More than 45 major businesses including Marks & Spencer and Asos have pledged to offer jobs to Ukrainians fleeing Russia’s invasion.
The firms, which also includes Lush and recruitment firm Robert Walters, are lobbying the Government to make it easier for Ukrainian refugees to come to the UK.
Emma Sinclair, an entrepreneur and chief executive of US-based multinational software business EnterpriseAlumni, is leading the initiative.
She told the BBC: “We [businesses] want people, we need people – and we want to help. “We want to see movement on rising numbers of refugees.”
She said the focus of the initiative is to help refugees from Ukraine rebuild their lives, but that in an ideal world the scheme would be extended to all refugees.
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Ms Sinclair, who said she has ancestors from Eastern Europe including Ukraine, added that he companies involved, particularly recruitment firms, have “thousands of jobs to fill” and it “is not a new situation for them”.
The project has up to 10,000 jobs available for refugees from Ukraine, according to The Sunday Times.
Many UK businesses have been facing labour shortages due to Covid and Brexit but Ms Sinclair said the consortium did not intend to promote any particular corporate agenda.
It comes after the Government faced a public backlash and criticism from MPs for not moving quickly enough to help Ukrainian refugees.
A spokesperson for Marks & Spencer told the BBC that the company was “committed to supporting Ukrainian refugees” through both jobs and humanitarian schemes.
Asos said: “We are recruiting for many tech engineering roles in the UK and we know Ukraine has a strong skill set in this area.
“We are also working with our partners to explore opportunities at our distribution centres in the UK and elsewhere in Europe.”
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