Business Review Europe: Starbucks to Hire 2,500 Refugees Across Europe by 2022

Refugees, by the UN definition, are forced to leave their homes due to persecution, war or violence, and they try to start new lives in foreign lands. The world has 21 million refugees, and Starbucks is pitching in to contribute stability to their lives and their new communities by hiring 10,000 globally, including 2,500 in Europe, over the next five years. “The plan going into motion coincides with World Refugee Day, which fell on 20th of June, to show that huge businesses can – and should – help with such issues where they can,” reports Nell Walker for Business Review Europe. The plan was welcomed in Europe, but “Of the company’s various hiring initiatives, this appeared to cause the biggest backlash on social media in America, where the hashtag #BoycottStarbucks came into use.” The plan is a win-win arrangement for Starbucks executives: The coffeeshops provide an ideal setting for community integration, and the refugees, highly skilled and eager for jobs, offer a ready and ideal pool for recruitment. – YaleGlobal