SBUX Starbucks Corporation

By Julie Jargon 

Starbucks Corp. is facing threats of a boycott from some customers after Chairman and Chief Executive Howard Schultz promised to hire 10,000 refugees globally over the next five years.

The pledge from Starbucks came in response to President Donald Trump's executive order banning refugees from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the U.S. Mr. Schultz said the hiring effort would begin in the U.S., with interpreters and others who have helped serve the U.S. military.

On Monday afternoon, the hashtag #BoycottStarbucks was the highest trending topic on Twitter, nearly neck-and-neck with tweets about the Holocaust, following Holocaust Remembrance Day last week.

Some customers said they took offense to the idea of jobs going to people who are not American citizens.

Starbucks employs more than 250,000 people in 75 countries around the world. There are more than 23,000 Starbucks locations globally.

A Starbucks spokesman said on Monday that the company has not experienced any disruptions in its stores as of Monday afternoon.

The coffee chain has gotten in hot water before for taking a stand on such issues as gun control and race relations. In 2015, the company urged baristas to engage customers in conversations about race relations and to write "Race Together" on cups. Starbucks ended the practice after customers complained.

Plenty of people have praised Starbucks for its pledge made in a letter Mr. Schultz sent to employees on Sunday, though there was no congratulatory movement that resulted in a trending hashtag.

"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," Mr. Schultz wrote in his letter. "So, while we seek to understand what the new Administration's policies mean for us and our business both domestically and around the world, I can assure you that we will do whatever it takes to support you, our partners, to realize your own dreams and achieve your own opportunities."

Several companies, mainly in the tech industry, have voiced their opposition to the refugee ban and promised to donate to the American Civil Liberties Union, which is challenging the ban on legal grounds, but none have made a new pledge to hire refugees.

This isn't the first time the company has vowed to hire a certain group of citizens. Mr. Schultz in 2013 pledged to hire 10,000 veterans and active duty spouses by 2018. He's also focused on hiring people between the ages of 16 and 24 in an effort to give young people their first jobs. A company spokesman said Starbucks is already ahead of schedule with its veteran hiring, saying it's already hired more than 8,000 veterans and military spouses.

The company publishes its progress on the hiring initiatives in an annual responsibility report. The spokesman said the progress of its latest pledge will also be outlined in future reports. It's unclear whether there's any third-party verification to back up the company's hiring claims.

Write to Julie Jargon at julie.jargon@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 30, 2017 18:03 ET (23:03 GMT)

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