This week, many major companies, including some of the largest food companies, committed to hiring more refugees over the next three years. The announcements were made at the U.S. Business Summit on Refugees, organized by the Tent Partnership for Refugees. Tent was founded by Chobani CEO Hamdi Ulukaya.
According to the announcement: “The United States is set to welcome hundreds of thousands of refugees in the coming years, including almost 100,000 Afghans by the end of 2022, 100,000 Ukrainians who have fled Russia’s invasion, and up to 125,000 refugees per year from other parts of the world who will arrive through the resettlement program. As refugees in the U.S. often face significant challenges finding work – including language barriers, difficulty certifying their credentials, and lack of a professional network – business leadership is critical to help refugees secure jobs.”
Here’s the full list of food and beverage companies that have made commitments for the next three years:
- Packaging provider Amcor will hire 300 refugees, as well as provide transportation to and from work and ESL classes.
- C&S Wholesale Grocers will hire 100 refugees.
- Cargill will hire 1,000 refugees, as well as partner with resettlement organizations to provide language training, transportation assistance, and housing assistance.
- Carrols Restaurant Group will hire 50 refugees full-time and 250 refugees part-time, as well as provide technical and leadership development.
- Chobani will hire 200 refugees in full- or part-time roles.
- Great Lakes Cheese will hire 50 refugees.
- La Colombe Coffee Roasters will hire 100 refugees, as well as provide language training and transportation support.
- PepsiCo will hire 500 refugees.
- Sodexo will hire 180 refugees full-time and 20 refugees part-time.
- Tyson Foods will hire 2,500 refugees, as well as provide training classes and other support.
In addition, packaging provider Graham Packaging, Panda Express, and The Kellogg Company were part of a larger group that made a collective commitment to hire 2,275 refugees.
