Amazon was one of more than 40 countries that pledged to hire a combined total of 250,000 refugees from Ukraine and other nations. File Photo by Friedemann Vogel/EPA-EFE
June 19 (UPI) — Amazon, Marriott International and Microsoft were some of the 41 companies that committed to hiring refugees from Ukraine and other countries, Tent European Business Summit in Paris on Monday.
The event, organized by the Tent Partnership for Refugees, claimed that the commitment was the largest ever made to refugees who have been pushed from their homes by war and disasters. The companies said they will provide more than 250,000 jobs to Ukrainian women and others with job training and employment across Europe.
“Ukrainian refugee women face many hurdles when finding jobs — from not knowing the local language to having to juggle childcare responsibilities,” Hamdi Ulukaya, founder and President of the Tent Partnership for Refugees and CEO and founder of Chobani, said in a statement.
“Businesses must do more to reduce these barriers and help these incredible, strong, talented people enter the workforce. The moment a refugee gets a job is the moment they stop being a refugee.
Tent organizers said that Hilton, Marriott International, and Teleperformance committed to hiring 13,680 refugees into their workforce while some of the world’s largest staffing agencies including Adecco, ManpowerGroup, and Randstad committed to connecting 152,000 refugees to work. Amazon said it will hire at least 5,000 refugees.
“Adecco has a long-standing commitment of supporting refugees in need,” Christophe Catoir, President of Adecco and co-host of the Tent European Business Summit, said in a statement.
“Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, we have helped more than 10,000 refugees connect to work but recognize the increasing need for companies like ours to do even more, given the sobering reality that many are expected to remain displaced for years to come.”
The United Nations Refugee Agency UNHCR said that more than 100 million have been displaced by various crises around the world, whether it be war or natural disasters. It said 80% of the refugees have landed in countries that are already facing food insecurity.
