Staffing firm Adecco pledges to recruit 85,000 refugees by the year 2027's close.
ManpowerGroup, a leading workforce solutions company, has reaffirmed its commitment to helping refugees worldwide find employment and rebuild their lives. At the Tent European Business Summit in June 2023, the company pledged to connect 50,000 refugees to jobs over the next three years and provide technical and language training to 10,000.
The company's initiatives, which have been ongoing since 2008, center around collaborations with major corporations and targeted programs to integrate refugees into the workforce. ManpowerGroup's President, Christophe Catoir, underscores the importance of work for refugees, stating it as a significant step for rebuilding lives, integrating into new countries, and finding a place in society again.
Tent, a coalition of over 350 companies globally, has been at the forefront of refugee integration. At their prior U.S. Business Summits, companies pledged to hire tens of thousands of refugees and provide training, with many already surpassing their commitments midway through the initiative.
Notable partnerships include a mentorship initiative with Catalyst, focused on helping refugee women enter and advance in the workforce in the U.S. Leading companies involved include Pfizer, Amazon, Marriott, Unilever, Uniqlo, UPS, Western Union, Wayfair, Zendesk, and others. These companies have pledged concrete hiring targets, collectively aiming to employ and train tens of thousands of refugees over multiple years.
ManpowerGroup's efforts to assist displaced people have been ongoing and global, expanding from Italy to various regions over the past 15 years. In 2021, ManpowerGroup, in partnership with Tent, co-organized the "Refugees are Talent" Forum to address the precarious situation in Afghanistan, and later launched the "Jobs for Ukraine" solidarity platform in 2022.
Recently, ManpowerGroup joined the "Job Turbo for the Integration of Refugees into the Labour Market" initiative in Germany, aiming to employ at least 10,000 refugees in Germany by the end of 2025. The company is also collaborating with committed companies such as L'Oréal in Germany to achieve these goals, with quality temporary employment being identified as an important and necessary lever for fast integration in the labor market.
Tent CEO Gideon Maltz highlights the ongoing challenges faced by refugees, particularly those displaced by the war in Ukraine, who are still searching for meaningful employment due to barriers such as lower language proficiency, transportation issues, lack of childcare options, and a lack of social and professional networks. ManpowerGroup believes that employing refugees brings unique perspectives, strong loyalty, and much-needed skills to the workforce, fostering a more inclusive workplace culture and contributing to the overall success of a company.
ManpowerGroup's new initiative, the Jobs for Refugees website, allows refugees from all nationalities to explore and connect to job opportunities worldwide. The website adopts a "skills first" approach in connecting refugees to job opportunities, reflecting ManpowerGroup's commitment to finding the right fit for both refugees and hiring companies.
By the end of 2027, ManpowerGroup plans to help recruit 85,000 refugees globally, and aims to train or upskill 17,000 refugees during this period. The company's ongoing partnerships with NGOs in France and Germany after the Syrian civil war, and its support for Tent since 2020, are notable examples of its ongoing commitment to refugee inclusion.
In conclusion, ManpowerGroup's initiatives and partnerships to employ and train 85,000 refugees globally by 2027 demonstrate a significant commitment to addressing the challenges faced by refugees and helping them rebuild their lives through employment. The company's efforts reflect a belief in the transformative power of meaningful work in creating positive, lasting change in the lives of refugees.
[1] Tent Partnership for Refugees, "Tent's U.S. Business Summit 2023: A Call to Action for Businesses to Hire, Train, and Empower Refugees," 2023. [Online]. Available: https://www.tent.org/us-business-summit-2023/ [Accessed: 2023-06-30].
- ManpowerGroup, in its commitment to fostering diversity and inclusion within the business sector, has pledged to connect 50,000 refugees to jobs over the next three years, simultaneously providing financial assistance for their careers through technical and language training.
- As part of its global initiatives, ManpowerGroup is actively collaborating with leading companies such as L'Oréal in Germany, aiming to employ at least 10,000 refugees by the end of 2025, thereby not only creating opportunities for refugees but also enriching workforce solutions with unique perspectives and much-needed skills.
