Starbucks plans to hire 10,000 refugees and a bunch of snowflakes can’t stand it
It’s been 72 hours since the executive order was signed, and President Trump’s travel ban continues to reverberate in places where, in saner times, it wouldn’t reverberate. This time, it’s the world of coffee.
On Sunday, Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz wrote a memo to employees announcing that, in response to Trump’s travel ban from seven Muslim-majority countries, Starbucks plans on hiring 10,000 refugees over the next five years. They will do so in the 75 countries where Starbucks currently does business.
“We have a long history of hiring young people looking for opportunities and a pathway to a new life around the world,” Schultz wrote. “This is why we are doubling down on this commitment by working with our equity market employees as well as joint venture and licensed market partners in a concerted effort to welcome and seek opportunities for those fleeing war, violence, persecution and discrimination.”
Starbucks will begin the initiative in the U.S. by hiring interpreters and support personnel of American troops. In addition, Schultz underscored several initiatives that will have the unintended effect of trolling conservatives. The company said it will continue reimbursing the biennial fees for employees in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program—this is former President Barack Obama’s “dreamers” policy where undocumented immigrants who arrive as children could receive a renewable two-year deferment from deportation. Schultz also renewed its business relationship with Mexico, a country with 600 Starbucks stores, in a part of the letter under the subhead “Building bridges, not walls, with Mexico.”
Of course, stepping into the political fray means every reaction will have a pissy opposite reaction. There are those on social media attempting to trend #BoycottStarbucks, because a company hiring refugees who escape their war-torn countries makes certain snowflakes feel sad.