This commitment is the “most significant” one ever made to economically integrate refugees, the Tent partnership says
41 leading companies have made a historic commitment to provide over 250,000 Ukrainian refugee women and other refugees with jobs and training across Europe, the Tent Partnership for Refugees reports. This announcement, made at the Tent European Business Summit in Paris on 19 June 2023, marks the most significant set of business commitments ever made to advance the economic integration of refugees.
The commitments include leading brands such as Hilton, Marriott International, and Teleperformance pledging to hire 13,680 refugees into their workforce. The world’s largest staffing agencies, including Adecco, ManpowerGroup, and Randstad, have committed to connect 152,000 refugees to work. Major companies, including Accenture, Generali, and Indeed have committed to train more than 86,000 refugees.
The Vice President of the European Commission, Margaritis Schinas, emphasized the importance of these commitments in his keynote speech at the Summit. He stated, “With no end in sight to the Russian invasion of Ukraine – and with the European Union welcoming millions of Ukrainians – it’s imperative that refugees are offered longer-term inclusion and hope through integration into the labor market.”
Hamdi Ulukaya, founder and President of the Tent Partnership for Refugees and CEO and founder of Chobani, highlighted the challenges faced by Ukrainian refugee women in finding jobs. He said, “The moment a refugee gets a job is the moment they stop being a refugee. I’m so proud that the companies stepping up today will help more than 250,000 Ukrainian women and other refugees across Europe stand on their own two feet, giving them a chance to live lives of dignity.”
The commitments are expected to generate over $2.4 billion (€2 billion) in income for refugees across Europe each year, strengthening companies’ workforces, filling labor gaps, and boosting European economies.
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Currently, 6.3 million Ukrainian refugees have relocated abroad.
Demographers predict that Ukraine’s population will shrink dramatically due to Russia’s war, not least because of refugees staying in their countries of residence.
Factors such as the intentions of hosting countries to integrate refugees into their dwindling workforce may play a crucial role in whether the refugees return, Ukrainian social scientists have said, envisioning a competition for the Ukrainian workforce.
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