Amazon, Hilton, Pepsi, and others commit to hiring thousands of refugees

For hundreds of thousands of refugees integrating into the United States, finding social and economic stability is a stressful step in an already painful journey of displacement. Today, the nonprofit Tent Partnership for Refugees (Tent) has received a commitment from 45 major American companies to hire and train tens of thousands of refugees over the next three years. Some of America’s largest employers, including Amazon, Hilton, FedEx, Kellogg’s, Pepsi, and Marriott, pledged to hire a total of 22,765 refugees in full-time positions to help them with their resettlement. 

Tent was founded by Hamdi Ulukaya, founder and CEO of the Greek yogurt brand Chobani, 30% of whose workforce is comprised of immigrants or refugees. “These companies will benefit from welcoming these hard-working, loyal, and resilient individuals,” Ulukaya said in a statement. “My hope is that this is only the beginning. As refugee crises start to fade from the headlines, companies must recognize that hiring refugees is not only the right thing to do, but also the smart thing to do.”

Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of State committed to resettling 20,000 refugees from the Americas over the next 2 years. And 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.

According to the announcement, these enlisted companies are among the 45 who have committed to hiring a specific number of refugees over the next three years: 

Amazon will hire at least 5,000 refugees. 

ManpowerGroup will place 3,000 refugees in jobs at its corporate clients.

Tyson Foods will hire 2,500 refugees. 

Blackstone portfolio companies and real estate properties will hire 2,000 refugees.

Hilton will hire 1,500 refugees. 

Marriott International will hire 1,500 refugees.

Cargill will hire 1,000 refugees.

Gategroup will hire 1,000 refugees. 

International Service System will hire 1,000 refugees.

Hyatt will hire 500 refugees. 

PepsiCo will hire 500 refugees.

Pfizer will hire 500 refugees.