International companies will hire refugees from Ukraine and other countries
41 major companies have committed to the training and employment of more than 250,000 refugees in Europe. This was announced during the Tent European Business Summit in Paris.
These companies include Amazon, Hilton, L'Oréal, PepsiCo, Microsoft, Starbucks, ISS, Cisco and other major players in the European labour market. It is expected that these commitments will boost business staffing levels, fill workforce gaps and create over 2 billion euro in annual revenue for employees.
This ambitious project has already attracted companies and recruitment agencies. Of course, the influx of new employees will depend directly on the size and capacity of the companies. But the fact that they are actively helping is encouraging.
For example, Amazon is hiring at least 5,000 refugees. Hilton — 1,500 refugees, Marriott International — 1,500 refugees, ISS — 1,000 refugees, and Teleperformance — 500 refugees.
These companies and many others, including Microsoft, have committed to accelerating the economic integration of refugee women. Some companies have gone further. Amazon, for example, has pledged not only to be the largest hirer but also to set up support programmes to cover immigration and legal costs, mentoring and training, including in local languages.
Another important point will be the training of refugees in key and in-demand occupations. This is particularly true in the fields of IT, cybersecurity and programming. Such courses will also help them to have a better understanding of the workings of the EU labour market.
Refugees face so many challenges as they try to enter their new country’s labour market for the first time or find work that is commensurate with their skills and background.
Lucy Murdoch, Managing Director – Corporate Citizenship, Accenture
Such plans have already been announced by Accenture, Indeed, Cisco, Microsoft and Generali. In total, they will be able to train 51,000 refugees over 3 years.
