A reported 41 companies commit to assisting over 250,000 Ukrainian refugees with jobs

The current refugee crisis Europe is facing is the worst state it has been in since the Second World War, as it includes up to five million refugees from Ukraine, with a large majority being women.

Ahead of World Refugee Day tomorrow, Tent Partnership for Refugees (TENT), announced at the Tent European Business Summit in Paris, France, that 41 renowned companies would be collectively providing jobs and training across Europe to 250,000 Ukrainian women and other refugees.

In terms of integrating refugees in an economic context, this is the largest and most impactful amount that organisations have ever pledged to help out with this crisis.

It was revealed at the summit that Tent would be receiving funding from Google's philanthropy, Google.org, so it could help fast-track its operations in Poland which include connecting more organisations to refugee prospects. Poland currently hosts the most Ukrainian refugees with 1.5 million of them being located there.

Also, LinkedIn and Visa have become new strategic partners with Tent to help grow the company's professional mentorship initiatives in Europe for refugees, with funding support to be provided. The mentorship programs will provide support to the refugees by offering career guidance and helping them develop or restart their careers.

A recorded 13,680 refugees are set to be collectively hired by committed leading organisations over the next three years such as Amazon, Hilton, Marriot International and ISS. Amazon is set to welcome the most refugees with at least 5,000 hirings, whilst Hilton, Marriot International and ISS will all hire at least 1000 refugees for work. Other businesses committed to hiring refugees include Teleperformance, Accenture, Adidas, KFC, L'Oreal Group, PepsiCo, Pfizer, The Body Shop and more.

Founder and president of the Tent Partnership for Refugees and CEO and founder of Chobani, Hamid Ulukaya, has spoken on what giving work opportunities to a refugee means and leads to. He commented: "The moment a refugee gets a job is the moment they stop being a refugee. I'm so proud that the companies stepping up today will help more than 250,000 Ukrainian women and other refugees across Europe stand on their own two feet, giving them a chance to live lives of dignity."

Tent Advisory Council Member and Vice President of People eXperience and Technology for Global Operations at Amazon, J. Ofori Agboka, gave his thoughts on Amazon's involvement in aiding refugees. He stated: "We understand the barriers that exist for refugees and other displaced people and are committed to providing access to meaningful employment. We're proud of the pledge we have made today, which reflects Amazon's ongoing commitment to support refugees globally."

Staffing agencies have also pledged their commitment to the cause by promising to connect over 150,000 refugees to work in the next three years. The agencies will place the refugees in jobs with their clients in Europe whilst also involving them in its contingent workforce settings.

The companies that will connect refugees include Adecco, Randstad, EWL Group and ManpowerGroup. These agencies are expected to connect a minimum of 50,000, 40,000, 35,000 and 30,000 refugees respectively.

President of Adecco and co-host of the Tent European Business Summit, Christophe Catoir, touched on its decision to help refugees, saying: "Adecco has a long-standing commitment of supporting refugees in need. Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, we have helped more than 10,000 refugees connect to work but recognize the increasing need for companies like ours to do even more."

Leading companies are also committed to training more than 86,000 refugees over the coming three years so that they can develop the necessary skills for work in IT, coding and cyber security, whilst also understanding the European job landscape better.

Accenture is set to provide training and support to roughly 16,000 refugees, Indeed will train at least 15,000 refugees and 10,000 refugees are set to be trained by Cisco. Both Microsoft and Generali will train at least 5,000 refugees each and other organisations set to train refugees include Amazon, Hempel Salesforce, Starbucks EMEA and more.

Managing Director at Corporate Citizenship for Accenture, Lucy Murdoch, elaborated on the importance of refugees receiving training. She mentioned: "Refugees face so many challenges as they try to enter their new country's labour market for the first time or find work that is commensurate with their skills and background."

The managing director added: "Training opportunities – whether they're focused on language, industry-specific skills, or learning labour market norms – are critical to help refugee candidates secure meaningful employment."

This large commitment being made by many of the world's leading companies will lead to positive outcomes as workforces will be strengthened, labour gaps will be filled plus economies in Europe will be boosted. Also, income worth over €2 billion will be generated annually for refugees throughout Europe.