The large coffee chain Starbucks has decided to cash in on the suffering of refugees. An announcement was made that the corporation will hire 2,500 refugees for their European stores by the year 2022. The company says it’s a part of a program to create jobs for refugees that was announced back in January. These jobs are said to be a part of a larger hiring campaign of 10,000 people around the world.

To get these jobs to them the company says they’ll be working with refugee agencies in Britain, France, Austria, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, Germany and the Netherlands.

The head of the Refugee Council in Britain Maurice Wren said: “refugees bring an incredible wealth of skills, knowledge, and experience which are hugely beneficial to society.”

The jobs placement has already come under fire in countries where employment is still a serious issue. Spain, which suffers from a 20 percent unemployment rate, demanded to know why the jobs were not being offered to existing citizens. In the United States, veterans advocate groups are demanding that the jobs be given to former servicemen.

Already Starbucks has hired over 8,800 former service members and their spouses. In 2013, Starbucks said it had planned to hire 10,000 veterans and military spouses over the next five years.

It should be said that Starbucks is saying something significant when the say they’re going to hire thousands of refugees. Already the company faces high turnover due to low wages and poor treatment of employees. In 2016 uproar by Starbucks workers denounced the company’s move to cut the number of staff per shift and shorten the hours of each worker. The move has resulted in a higher rate of exploitation and greater stress on employees.

The solution to the high turnover which Starbucks themselves causes can be remedied by those who have little choice in employment. Taking advantage of vulnerable persons, Starbucks can continue their unethical practices with less turnover. They can continue to abuse worker’s rights and needs in this manner.

All of this is nothing more than the functioning of capitalism. First, the system destroys their countries via warfare, and reaps in the profits from it – then they clean up by using the victims of cheap labour. This is done in order to justify increasing part-time work with worsening conditions. The excess money goes into the pockets of the capitalists.

Sources: https://www.rt.com/business/393202-starbucks-refugees-europe-jobs/

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-starbucks-dispute-idUSKCN0ZG2GR

http://www.businessinsider.com/r-starbucks-workers-petition-for-more-hours-amid-labor-cuts-2016-6