Accenture, Adecco, Amazon, Generali, ISS, Marriott International and Microsoft are some of the big companies that have promised to speed up the economic integration of Ukrainian refugee women and refugees from other countries.
PARIS, June 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — On the eve of World Refugee Day and at a time when Europe is facing the biggest refugee crisis since World War II (with 4-5 million refugees coming from Ukraine, mostly women), 41 large companies have jointly announced an ambitious commitment to provide jobs and training to more than 250,000 Ukrainian refugee women and other refugees across Europe. This announcement, made today at the Tent European Business Summit in Paris hosted by the Tent Partnership for Refugees (Tent), sets a new record for the largest set of corporate commitments ever made to accelerate the economic integration of refugees.
Important brands participate in this historic set of commitments, such as Hilton, Marriott International or Teleperformance, which have committed to hiring 13,680 refugees; or the largest recruitment companies in the world, such as Adecco, ManpowerGroup and Randstad, which are committed to finding work for more than 152,000 refugees; and large companies such as Accenture, Generali and Indeed, which are committed to training more than 86,000 refugees. The summit also announced funding from Google.org, Google’s philanthropic arm, to accelerate Tent’s work in Poland, as well as new strategic alliances with LinkedIn and Visa (including financial support) to develop Tent’s professional mentoring initiatives for refugees in Europe.
It should be noted that these commitments will strengthen the workforce of companies, cover labor shortages, revitalize the European economy and generate more than 2,000 million in income for refugees in Europe each year.
“With no end in sight to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and with the European Union hosting millions of Ukrainians, it is imperative to offer inclusion and hope to refugees through integration into the labor market,” said Margaritis Schinas, Vice President of the European Commission, who delivered the opening speech of the Summit. “The opening of the EU’s borders to Ukrainians more than a year ago showed Europe at its best. Yet, a year later, too many refugees remain unemployed, despite our endemic shortage of skilled labor, their high level education, their desire to earn a living and their legal right to work thanks to the Temporary Protection Directive.This unprecedented show of support from businesses across the continent will be instrumental in enabling tens of thousands of Ukrainians to support themselves and their their loved ones in Ukraine”.
“Ukrainian refugee women face numerous obstacles when it comes to finding work, from not knowing the language to having to juggle professional responsibilities with caring for their children. Companies must do more to reduce these barriers and help these people so incredibly strong and capable to enter the job market,” said Hamdi Ulukaya, founder and president of the Tent Partnership for Refugees and CEO and founder of Chobani. “A refugee ceases to be a refugee the moment he gets a job. I am very proud that the companies that are stepping up today are going to help more than 250,000 Ukrainian women and other refugees across Europe to fend for themselves, giving them the opportunity to lead a dignified life”.
Brands pledging to recruit more than 13,680 Ukrainians and other refugees to their workforces over the next three years across Europe include:
Amazon Will Hire At Least 5,000 RefugeesHilton Will Hire At Least 1,500 RefugeesMarriott International Will Hire At Least 1,500 RefugeesISS Will Hire At Least 1,000 RefugeesTeleperformance Will Hire At Least 500 Refugees
Other brands that have made similar commitments are: Accenture, adidas, Blackstone, bp, Duni Group, ESS Group, FCC Medio Ambiente, Hempel, Hyatt, Ipsos, KFC, Kyndryl, L’Oréal Group, Menzies Aviation, Novartis, PepsiCo , Pfizer, QSRP, Starbucks EMEA, Suez, The Body Shop and The Kraft Heinz Company
“We know that the diversity of our staff makes us stronger as a company, which is why we are very committed to hiring people with different backgrounds, skills and levels of experience. We understand the obstacles that refugees and other displaced people face and We are committed to providing them with access to a decent job,” said J. Ofori Agboka, Vice President of People eXperience and Technology (PXT) of Global Operations at Amazon and member of the Tent Advisory Board. “We are proud of the commitment we announced today, which reflects Amazon’s ongoing efforts to support refugees globally.”
Recruiting companies have also announced extraordinary commitments to connect refugees to jobs over the next three years, adding them to their casual worker pools and putting them to work on the pools of their clients across Europe. Their commitment amounts to 152,000 and includes the following:
Adecco will connect at least 50,000 refugees with jobs Randstad will connect at least 40,000 refugees with jobs EWL Group will connect at least 35,000 refugees with jobs ManpowerGroup will connect at least 30,000 refugees with jobs
“Adecco has long supported refugees in vulnerable situations. Since the start of the war in Ukraine, we have helped more than 10,000 refugees find work, but we are aware of the growing need for companies like ours to do even more by having “Unfortunately, it looks like many of them will remain displaced for years to come,” said Christophe Catoir, Chairman of Adecco and co-host of the Tent European Business Summit. “It is encouraging to see scores of companies across Europe come together to make such bold commitments at this critical time, and we at Adecco are immensely proud to be at the forefront of this initiative.”
In addition, a number of large companies have announced their commitment to offer training (both directly and through partner organisations) over the next three years to help refugees acquire high-demand skills (computer, programming or cybersecurity skills) and understand better functioning of the European labor market.
Accenture will provide support and training to approximately 16,000 refugees Indeed will provide training to at least 15,000 refugeesCisco will provide training to at least 10,000 refugeesMicrosoft will provide training to at least 5,000 refugeesGenerali will provide training to at least 5,000 refugees
“Refugees face many barriers to accessing the job market in their new country for the first time or a job that matches their skills and training,” says Lucy Murdoch, Accenture’s executive director of Corporate Citizenship. “Training opportunities – whether they are focused on language learning, skills for a specific sector or labor market regulations – are essential to help refugees find a job that matches their abilities. Our promise today is It builds on Accenture’s ongoing commitment to creating inclusive employment pathways for refugees and its track record of upskilling marginalized people around the world to significantly improve their lives and prepare them for a sustainable future.”
Other companies pledging to train refugees include Accor, Amazon, Hempel, Kyndryl, ManpowerGroup, Novartis, Randstad, Salesforce, Starbucks EMEA and Unilever.
In light of these pan-European commitments, Tent aims to regionally connect more companies with refugee talent pools, especially in Poland, which hosts the largest population of Ukrainian refugees (1.5 million). To this end, support was also announced today by Google.org, which will leverage Google’s resources and technological expertise to build a bridge between businesses and Ukrainian refugees in Poland. As a complement to its broader mission of facilitating refugees access to employment, Tent’s career mentoring programs offer support to refugees by employees of participating companies, who act as mentors, offer personalized career guidance and help them restart or advance their professional career. With a view to reaching thousands of Ukrainian and international refugee women, new strategic partnerships with LinkedIn and Visa were announced at today’s summit to accelerate the development of the Women’s Refugee Mentoring Program in Europe, including funding. Here you can consult the complete list of commitments announced at the summit.
APPENDIX: ADDITIONAL QUOTES
Gideon Maltz, CEO of Tent Partnership for Refugees: “The many outpourings of support from the European population for Ukrainian refugees during the early days of the Russian invasion are now being replicated by the business community, which is making smart, strategic and lasting investments In order to incorporate Ukrainian and other refugees into the labor market, thanks to these initiatives, companies fill the labor gap and take advantage of the extraordinary talent of the refugees, at the same time that they rebuild their lives and become integrate into their communities. If Russia expected the exodus of Ukrainians to destabilize Europe, today’s summit shows that Europe will be stronger and more prosperous for welcoming Ukrainians and other refugees.”
Kelly T. Clements, Deputy High Commissioner for UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency: “Tent and its partners have unequivocally demonstrated that there is massive support from businesses, customers and employees when it comes to to hiring refugees Having a job moves refugees towards self-sufficiency, enabling them to support their families Refugees are innovators, contributors, employees, consumers, investors and entrepreneurs, so there is no better investment than helping them to finding a job or gaining the necessary skills to enter the labor market – it just makes sense from a business point of view. UNHCR encourages more companies to step up and create decent jobs for refugees around the world.”
Jacob Aarup-Andersen, CEO of ISS and co-host of the Tent European Business Summit: “At ISS, we are proud of our diverse and inclusive culture, which welcomes colleagues from all over the world and which led us to welcome with open arms Ukrainian refugees into our workforce as soon as the war broke out.Through our collaboration with the Tent Partnership for Refugees, local authorities and other key partners, we at ISS are proud to have already recruited hundreds of refugees in Europe since spring 2022. Our Today’s commitment to recruit at least 1,000 more refugees, including Ukrainian refugee women, reinforces our relentless quest to bring about real change for people and society through economic stability and a sense of belonging.”
Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, CEO of ONE Campaign in France and member of the Tent Advisory Board. “The extraordinary wave of solidarity that we have witnessed since the start of the war in Ukraine must not abate and must be extended to reach all refugees, wherever they come from. Refugees enrich our society and economy. I am delighted to see that so many companies have decided to start or strengthen their commitment to recruit and train refugees. They are leading the way and we hope many more will follow suit.”
Paul Polman, Business Leader, Activist, Former CEO of Unilever and Co-host of Tent’s European Business Summit: “When I joined Hamdi Ulukaya and other prominent business leaders as a co-host of Tent’s European Business Summit a few months ago, I couldn’t imagine the magnitude of the response that companies were going to make today to help Ukrainians and other refugees.I want to congratulate the companies that have joined this vitally important movement and pay tribute to the many refugees who are rebuilding their lives, both in Ukraine as in other parts of the world. Their talent and determination are invaluable assets to any company that wants capable and determined employees.”
Dominika Bettman, CEO of Microsoft in Poland and co-host of Tent’s European Business Summit: “The millions of Ukrainian refugees that Poland and the rest of Europe have taken in since the start of the war are mostly women with dependents. Many continue to encountering professional and social difficulties when entering the labor market of the host country.Training is a fundamental step for these talented people eager to find work.For Microsoft it is proud to be part of this decisive moment that we are experiencing today with our commitment to work with our partners across Europe to train at least 5,000 Ukrainians by 2025.”
Chris Heutink, Randstad Executive Board Member: “At Randstad, since 2011 we have supported more than 103,400 migrants and refugees in the workplace through our programs around the world. As the world’s largest human resources company, we continue to mobilize our ability to match refugees and migrants with careers and employment opportunities that go a long way towards a freer and more secure future for them and their families After reaching our previous 3-year goal in just one year, we now We are proud to expand this work by supporting the careers of 50,000 refugees and migrants by 2025. From this pool of talent, we will connect 40,000 refugees and immigrants with the world of work and offer training to 10,000 people.We believe this reflects our firm conviction that decent employment is essential for all”.
Anthony Capuano, President and CEO of Marriott International: “At Marriott International, we believe we can make a sustainable impact in the communities where we operate. In Europe, this has included supporting refugees from Ukraine since the start of the war Our commitment to creating employment opportunities has already resulted in the hiring of more than 970 refugees at dozens of our hotels in the region.Marriott’s goal of hiring another 1,500 refugees in Europe builds on the work we’re doing. doing to advance opportunity for refugees in the US and underscores our strong commitment to putting people first and providing economic opportunity for refugees and underrepresented populations.”
Press Office:media@tent.org
About Tent Partnership for Refugees With more and more refugees displaced for long periods of time, companies have a critical role in helping refugees integrate economically into their new communities. Tent was launched in 2016 by Hamdi Ulukaya, CEO and founder of Chobani (a multi-billion dollar US food company) to mobilize companies around the world to fill this gap by helping connect refugees to work. Today, Tent is a network of more than 300 large companies committed to recruiting, training and mentoring refugees. Find out more at www.tent.org.
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