More than 40 businesses have committed to hiring, connecting to work, or training a total of 250,000 refugees in honor of World Refugee Day on June 20. Of those, 13,680 will be given jobs at those businesses.
Kelly Clements, the UN deputy high commissioner for refugees, stated that “every number is a story of an individual family who left everything, seeking safety, seeking protection, and wanting to be able to rebuild as quickly as possible. So the commitments that businesses are going to make on Monday are absolutely essential.” She also added that over 12 million people from Ukraine have reportedly been evacuated globally as a result of the continent’s largest refugee migration since World War II; of these, roughly half now reside in Europe.
Tent Partnership for Refugees, a non-profit organization founded by Chobani CEO Hamdi Ulukaya, has organized a hiring initiative for refugees in Europe. The program, which connects businesses and refugees, is being launched at a gathering in Paris. Last year, the organization’s first summit in the US resulted in commitments to employ 22,725 refugees.
Amazon has taken the lead in the latest effort, committing to employing a minimum of 5,000 migrants in Europe over the next three years. Other major companies, including Marriott, Hilton, Starbucks, and ISS, have pledged to hire 1,500 employees each. Smaller commitments have also been made by Adidas, L’Oreal, PepsiCo, Starbucks, and Hyatt.
According to Ofori Agboka, Amazon’s Vice President of Human Resources, the company sees the chance to enhance diversity in its workforce as a positive step. Agboka believes that diversity can bring innovation, creativity, and unique perspectives to the company, ultimately making it stronger. He stated that the majority of jobs will be hourly roles in transportation, delivery, fulfillment, and storage facilities.
Following a spike in recruiting by tech companies during the COVID-19 outbreak, Amazon announced 27,000 job cuts earlier this year. According to Agboka, salaried office employment was primarily impacted by the layoffs.
Daria Sedihi-Volchenko, a senior program manager at Amazon Web Services in Poland, fled Kyiv last year. She now works on a program that provides free tech training for Ukrainians and notes that 40% of the program’s participants have no tech background. Sedihi-Volchenko herself had to learn new skills when starting her job and made a commitment during her interview to learn Polish and technical skills. She was awakened by Russian invasion blasts a year ago.
While European countries have welcomed Ukrainians, there is a need for similar opportunities to be offered to refugees fleeing conflict and crises in places like Syria, Sudan, and Afghanistan, according to Clements. Despite companies offering language skills, counseling, and training, refugees like Sedihi-Volchenko still face challenges, such as deciphering job listings and securing stable internet connections or work clothes.
After the economy recovered from the pandemic, businesses are hopeful that refugees can fill open positions. Since the introduction of the euro in 1999, unemployment in Europe has decreased to its lowest level.
Housekeepers, culinary workers, and front desk personnel are just a few of the positions that hotels like Hilton and Marriott will be hiring for.
In addition, staffing agencies such as Adecco will help 150,000 find work, while the likes of Accenture and Microsoft will help train more than 86,000.
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