Amazon to hire 5,000 refugees in Europe

Over the next three years, ecommerce giant Amazon will hire more than 5,000 refugees in Europe. It pledged to do that, together with over 40 companies. Together, they will hire, train or connect to work a total of 250,000 refugees. At least 13,680 of them will get jobs directly in the 40 companies.

Other companies that are making the pledge are Marriott and Hilton. The announcement comes a day before World Refugee Day. The hiring push was organized by the Tent Partnership for Refugees, a nonprofit that connects businesses and refugees. The group’s first summit in the US last year led to commitments to hire 22,725 refugees.

Among the refugees that Amazon will hire are Ukrainian women who have had to flee. An estimate of 12 million people have fled from Ukraine. Nearly half of them are living in Europe. It is the continent’s largest movement of refugees since World War II.

‘Diversity brings innovation’

“This is good for us as a company because the opportunity to add diversity to our workforce will continue to make us a stronger company”, said Ofori Agboka, Amazon vice president overseeing human resources. “With diversity brings innovation, creativity, different insights.”

Most jobs will be hourly roles at fulfillment centers.

Most jobs will be hourly roles at fulfillment and storage centers and in transport and delivery. The company has been struggling to find workers for these roles and has lately been automating its warehouses, with new AI tools for example.