"Starbucks Will Hire 2,500 Refugees To Work In Its European Coffee Shops Despite Backlash", 20 Jun 2017

Starbucks will hire 2,500 refugees to work in its stores across Europe within five years as part of a worldwide policy, despite a US backlash over its plans, the coffee chain has confirmed. It said on Tuesday it will aim to recruit 2,500 refugees to work in eight European countries: the UK, France, Austria, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, Germany, and the Netherlands. It will work with NGOs including the Refugee Council and the International Rescue Committee to deliver the jobs, and has not given a breakdown per country. The move is part of a plan to recruit 10,000 refugees worldwide – a small percentage of its more than 250,000 employees. It also announced today that 1,000 of these will be in Canada. The worldwide pledge was first announced in January and caused a backlash from some consumers in the US who called for a boycott using the hashtag #BoycottStarbucks....The coffee retail sector relies heavily on migrant labour from Europe, a recent study by research firm Allegra Insights said. In March, Pret a Manger told a committee of MPs that just 1 in 50 applicants for jobs at the chain were British...