Starbucks Says It Will Hire 10,000 Refugees
Photograph by Natee Meepian / Shutterstock, Inc.
What do you think of this move?
President Donald Trump signed an executive order Friday that banned anyone from seven predominantly Muslim countries (Iran, Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Libya, Somalia, Yemen) from entering the country for 90 days—including travelers with dual citizenship and U.S. residents with green cards, the New York Times reports. The ban also prohibits the acceptance of any refugees for the next four months and bans all Syrian refugees indefinitely.
In response, Starbucks pledged to hire 10,000 refugees. In a letter to all Starbucks employees, Starbucks chairman and CEO Howard Schultz outlined actions the major brand would be taking in light of the recent political climate. “I am hearing the alarm you all are sounding that the civility and human rights we have all taken for granted for so long are under attack,” he wrote. “I also want to take this opportunity to announce specific actions we are taking to reinforce our belief in our partners around the world and to ensure you are clear that we will neither stand by, nor stand silent, as the uncertainty around the new Administration’s actions grows with each passing day.”
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In addition to pledging to hire 10,000 refugees over the next five years in the 75 countries where Starbucks operates, the company also promised to offer continued support for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, guaranteed health care for their employees with or without the Affordable Care Act, and to build bridges, not walls, with Mexico. “We will continue to invest in this critically important market,” Schultz wrote.
Starbucks isn’t the only major U.S. company taking a stand against Trump’s ban. In the midst of protests at airports across the country Saturday and Sunday, ride-sharing company Lyft pledged to donate $1 million to the American Civil Liberties Union, and its founders came out strongly against the ban, according to USA Today. And AirBnB CEO Brian Chesky pledged on Facebook that the company will provide free housing to refugees.
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However, many Trump supporters are taking to Twitter with the hashtag #BoycottStarbucks to criticize Starbucks for the move. "100 million people are out of the work force and Starbucks wants to hire 10,000 refugees," one critic tweeted. Another urged the company to hire veterans instead. Those in support of Starbucks used the trending hashtag to thank the company for supporting refugees.
What do you think about the coffee company's announcement?
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