In response to the Trump Ban, Starbucks Corp Chief Executive Officer Howard Schultz said yesterday that the company intends to hire 10,000 refugees over the next five years in 75 countries. This announcement comes two days after U.S. President Donald Trump imposed an executive order banning refugees from certain countries.
According to a refugee ban initiated by the Trump government, United States will temporarily bar travellers from Syria and six other Muslim-majority countries over the next four months to help protect Americans from the terrorist attacks. This order sparked widespread international criticism, legal challenges and outage from civil rights activists.
In a formal letter, Schultz assured employees that it would everything possible to support the affected workers. The hiring efforts would commence in U.S with initial focus on individuals who have served with U.S. troops as interpreters and support personnel in the various countries where the military has asked for such support.
Schultz clearly stated in his letter, “We will neither stand by, nor stand silent, as the uncertainty around the new Administration’s actions grows with each passing day.”
Schultz has been outspoken about various issues in the past as well, to put Starbucks in spotlight by asking customers not to bring guns into stores and urging conversations on race relations. Also, in case the Affordable Care Act is repealed, employees will lose health coverage and they can then return to health insurance coverage from Starbucks.
See: Pizza Hut on a Hiring Spree, Plans to Fill 11,000 Job Openings in the U.S
He further added as a concluding note in his letter assuring, “We are in business to inspire and nurture the human spirit, one person, one cup and one neighbourhood at a time – whether that neighbourhood is in a Red State or a Blue State; a Christian country or a Muslim country; a divided nation or a united nation. That will not change. You have my word on that.”
Schultz will step down as CEO in a few months to focus on new high-end coffee shops, handing the top job to Chief Operating Officer Kevin Johnson, a long-time technology executive. He will become executive chairman in April, Channel News Asia reports.
In the letter, the CEO further assured “support to coffee growers in Mexico, provide health insurance to eligible workers if the health care law is repealed and back an Obama-era immigration program that allows young immigrants who were brought to the country as children to apply for a two-year reprieve from deportation and a work permit,” Business Insider reports.
This move shows increasing complexities faced by businesses under the Trump governance. The U.S president has further met CEOs at General Motors, Ford and Boeing urging them to create new jobs in the United States and touting about creation of new jobs as a success, even if those announcements were made before Trump came to power.
Image credit: stheadline.com
Also read: Amazon Inc. On a Rapid Hiring Spree in the US
