Company responds to critics accusing them of hiring refugees

pulse

January 31, 2017 7:17 PM

Many others echoed the sentiment, including a number of conservative and pro-Trump accounts that said they were furious that Starbucks wasn't hiring veterans.

John Noll began working at Starbucks in July 2016 after 20 years in the Air Force. He was recruited by the coffee giant as part of its plan to hire veterans.

When Starbucks announced its plan to hire 10,000 refugees in the next five years, some customers threatened to boycott the chain.

Those who opposed Starbucks' plan — which the company announced in a letter opposing President Donald Trump's executive order barring people from seven majority-Muslim countries and all refugees from entering the US — claimed that the company failed to provide similar support for veterans.

"Instead of hiring 10,000 AMERICAN VETERANS, #Starbucks has decided to hire 10,000 'refugees,'" a Twitter user wrote. "Calling on all Americans to #BoycottStarbucks!"

In fact, Starbucks pledged four years ago to do exactly that.

In 2013, the coffee giant announced a commitment to hire 10,000 veterans by the end of 2018 — in essence, the same commitment that CEO Howard Schultz made on Sunday to refugees. The company says it has hired more than 8,000 veterans and military spouses since 2014.

This program gave Starbucks the ideal response in several Twitter exchanges on Monday.

Scott Baio, an actor and outspoken Trump supporter, asked the chain why it wasn't focusing on hiring "unemployed Blacks, Hispanics, & Veterans."

The coffee giant responded with links to a press release on its recent work to open stores in lower-income communities and a website on its veteran outreach.

While Starbucks was flooded on Monday with threats of a boycott, many people said they supported Schultz's opposition to the executive order and his support for refugees.

Schultz has long been vocal about his political beliefs. He endorsed Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton for president in September and reportedly would have been Clinton's pick for secretary of labor had she won the election.

"We are living in an unprecedented time, one in which we are witness to the conscience of our country, and the promise of the American Dream, being called into question," Schultz wrote in a letter to Starbucks employees announcing the plan on Sunday.

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