Topline
Adidas, Marriott, Amazon and dozens of other companies announced Monday they’ll hire, train or otherwise help a total of 250,000 refugees over the next three years as millions of people continue to be displaced by war and violence in eastern Europe and the Middle East.
A hostess at a stand of online retailer Amazon explains employment opportunities to job seekers at … [+]
Key Facts
Corporations will directly hire almost 14,000 refugees and help hundreds of thousands of others find jobs, business leaders announced at a Paris event Monday organized by the Tent Partnership for Refugees, a nonprofit founded by Chobani CEO Hamdi Ulukaya.
Amazon has pledged to hire at least 5,000 refugees across Europe over the next three years for fulfillment and delivery jobs—as well as work with Tent to support with immigration and legal fees, mentoring and training—and Hilton, Marriott, Adidas and Starbucks are also among the group of 40 companies that together said they’ll hire more than 13,000 people, the Associated Press reported.
Amazon said it will also provide IT-related training for 10,000 Ukrainians globally through its Amazon Web Services arm, the Financial Times reported.
Staffing agencies Adecco, ManpowerGroup and Randstad said they would help an additional 152,000 refugees find work, and Accenture, Generali and Indeed said they would help to train another 86,000 displaced people, according to the Financial Times.
Key Background
The ongoing civil war in Syria that collided with residents fleeing violence in Afghanistan, Iraq and other Middle Eastern nations kicked off a migrant crisis in 2015 that has since enveloped Europe. The United Nations said last week that 108.4 million people were forcibly displaced in 2022 as a result of persecution, conflict, violence and human rights violations, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine saw 5.7 million refugees leave the country–the fastest outflow of refugees anywhere since World War II. Thousands are fleeing Sudan each week due to ongoing violence between the army and rival militia, and an estimated 4.4 million people worldwide were stateless or of undetermined nationality at the end of 2022. Amazon made a similar commitment in September to hire 5,000 refugees in the U.S. by the end of next year, and Amazon Vice President Ofori Agboka told the Financial Times the company is receiving applications from refugees from Ukraine, Venezuela, Syria and Turkey.
Crucial Quote
“Far too many refugees remain unemployed, despite our endemic skills shortages, their high levels of education, desire to earn a living and legal right to work,” Margaritis Schinas, vice-president of the European Commission, said Monday.
Big Number
52%. That’s how many refugees originated from just three countries in 2022 — Syria, Ukraine and Afghanistan.
Further Reading
Recent Exodus Of Ukrainian Refugees Was Deja Vu From 75 Years Ago (Forbes)
110 million people forcibly displaced as Sudan, Ukraine wars add to world refugee crisis, UN says (Associated Press)
Russian labor shortage laid bare as unemployment drops to record low (Reuters)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/maryroeloffs/2023/06/19/amazon-starbucks-others-vow-to-help-250000-refugees-in-europe-get-jobs/