Jordan: IKEA collaboration with Syrian refugee women offers steady, year-round employment
"Syrian refugee women are finding shelter—and a salary—in IKEA’s supply chain", 13 October 2017
In February this year, IKEA put into motion a long-term plan to employ Syrian refugee women in Jordan, specifically from the 80% of displaced migrants who live outside of the country’s five refugee camps. The number of women employed is small, but those who work here say getting a big order from a global corporation like IKEA [is] life-changing: A Syrian mother is able to earn enough money for her family while her husband is still struggling to get a work permit…“This is not a charity,” explains Vaishali Misra, head of IKEA’s five-year old social entrepreneur initiative. Instead of hiring thousands of refugees for seasonal work, IKEA says they’re interested in providing steady, year-round jobs. “It’s a long-term partnership that we have. This fits very well in in our strategy of making life better for many more…” Each artisan is paid a salary equal or above the legal monthly minimum wage of…$310 set by [the] government. Workers who work from home and not in the IKEA factory are compensated based on the number of pieces they produce. They also receive social security benefits and insurance…