US Companies Including Amazon to Employ 20,000 Refugees Over 3 Years

(Photo by Bloomberg)

[Asia Economy Reporter Yujin Cho] Major U.S. companies such as Amazon and Pfizer have pledged to hire 20,000 refugees over the next three years in line with the Biden administration's refugee inclusion policy.

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that Amazon, the largest e-commerce company in the U.S., has committed to hiring 5,000 Ukrainian refugees entering the U.S. over the next three years. This is the largest hiring scale among U.S. companies.

Hotel chains Marriott and Hilton also announced plans to employ 1,500 refugees each, and pharmaceutical company Pfizer announced it would hire 500 refugees.

At the "Tent Partnership for Refugees" event held in New York that day, more than 100 U.S. companies including Amazon, Pfizer, Walmart, and Uber declared their commitment to refugee inclusion, WSJ reported.

Mona Babari, who leads Pfizer's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) efforts, said, "We highly value the diversity, skills, life experiences, resilience, and fierce dedication to success that refugee workers bring."

However, WSJ noted that the hiring target of 20,000 is only a portion of the total number of refugees who entered the U.S. from Afghanistan last year.

According to U.S. government statistics, 80,000 refugees from Afghanistan entered the U.S. since last year, and half of them (41,000) are of working age and in need of jobs.

Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February, about 150,000 Ukrainian refugees have entered the U.S., most of whom arrived on tourist visas and are not legally authorized to work.

According to a report by the International Rescue Committee (IRC), headquartered in the U.S., 1,800 Afghan refugees earn an average hourly wage of $16.50 or more, mainly working in manufacturing, retail, and food service industries.

This plan demonstrates the Biden administration's strong commitment to refugee inclusion, but foreign media also see it as an effort to alleviate the labor shortage that is hindering the normalization of the U.S. economy.

Since his candidacy, the Biden administration has promoted pro-immigration policies and announced in June that it would employ 20,000 refugees from Central and South America as agricultural workers and expand the issuance of work visas.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.