TWIN FALLS, Idaho — The United States welcomes tens of thousands of refugees each year. On Monday at the U.S. Business Summit on Refugees, Chobani and 44 other major companies announced they will hire more than 20,000 refugees over the next three years.
Chobani, which has a plant in Twin Falls, is making the commitment to hire people who've been displaced from their home countries.
The business summit is organized by the Tent Partnership for Refugees, which is made of 260 major businesses. Chobani CEO and Tent founder, Hamdi Ulukaya, said the full-time positions will help the social and economic integration of refugees in the U.S.
"The American business community is showing incredible leadership, and I am so proud of the companies standing up for refugees today," Ulukaya said. "These companies will benefit from welcoming these hard-working, loyal, and resilient individuals – but 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."
Chobani committed to hiring 200 refugees company-wide over the next three years, including at its plant in Twin Falls.
According to Tuesday's news release, the United States is expected to welcome hundreds of thousands of refugees in coming years, including 100,000 people who have fled Ukraine amid Russia's invasion.
The increased hiring is expected to create $913 million in income for refugees each year in the U.S.
Other companies that announced their commitment Tuesday are listed below:
- Amazon will hire at least 5,000 refugees over three years
- ManpowerGroup will place 3,000 refugees in jobs at its corporate clients over three years
- Tyson Foods will hire 2,500 refugees over three years
- Blackstone portfolio companies and real estate properties will hire 2,000 refugees over three years
- Hilton will hire 1,500 refugees over three years
- Marriott International will hire 1,500 refugees over three years
- Cargill will hire 1,000 refugees over three years
- Gategroup will hire 1,000 refugees over three years
- ISS will hire 1,000 refugees over three years
- Hyatt will hire 500 refugees over three years
- PepsiCo will hire 500 refugees over three years
- Pfizer will hire 500 refugees over three years
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