Refugee Council and Starbucks UK: Helping Refugees into Jobs

Client: Refugee Council

UK job vacancies are high – almost a million. It should be a perfect match: refugees need jobs, and companies want to hire.

Instead, there are barriers: a language barrier, being from different working cultures, or a different professional background. So, many refugees need more support to find work. In 2017 Starbucks made a global refugee hiring commitment. To support this commitment, they partnered with the Refugee Council in the UK to create a partnership and pathway, together to break down barriers and help refugees create new livelihoods. First, we give refugees one-to-one employability support. Then a tailored, four-day intensive course, including a taster day at Starbucks, and a mock interview with a Starbucks partner (employee). Starbucks offer a guaranteed interviews for open roles for all those who complete the programme. Alongside, we run training and engagement sessions for Starbucks UK staff about refugees and their experience. Over the last 6 years, 414 refugees have entered the programme: 3 in 4 felt better able to present themselves to employers, and 93 started jobs while in the programme. An additional 190 refugees (283) in total have gone on to secure employment at Starbucks UK.