Factors affecting the employability of refugee Syrian health-care professionals in Turkey (2021)

This field assessment of factors affecting the employability of Syrian health professionals included 101 employed or unemployed Syrian doctors and nurses from five migrant health training centres in Ankara, Gaziantep, Hatay, Istanbul and Şanlıurfa. Of these, 53 (‎52.5%)‎ were currently employed by the SIHHAT project and 48 (‎47.5%)‎ were not. Semistructured interviews were used to collect data between 11 and 22 February 2019.

Most employed interviewees had been delighted to find a job in their chosen profession and were happy with their working conditions. Despite daily challenges related to family settlement, children’s education and keeping in touch with relatives abroad, most were highly satisfied with the relative stability, peace and security of life in Turkey. In contrast, unemployed interviewees were disappointed with the lack of job opportunities and uncertain about their future prospects. Many relied on family support, savings, part-time jobs and odd jobs.

The main concerns were cultural barriers, long working hours, high workloads, lack of vacation time, the employment of specialist physicians as general practitioners, higher living costs in larger cities and distance from the Syrian Arab Republic.