PepsiCo in the Netherlands announces today it has joined Tent Nederland, a new coalition of more than 40 major companies that are committed to helping refugees become job ready and secure employment in the Netherlands.
PepsiCo has in various countries such as in Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain and Poland been a longstanding member of the Tent Partnership for Refugees – a global network of companies committed to helping refugees access labour markets. To date, PepsiCo Netherlands has hired 11 refugees and mentored 70, through the efforts of their employees and in partnership with the Refugee Talent Hub.
standing commitment to fostering an inclusive workplace culture. We have always thrived on bringing together the best talent and empowering individuals to grow. This legacy continues to inspire our work and the many employees who help make a difference in our local communities. By joining Tent Nederland as a founding member, we proudly reaffirm our commitment to expanding our refugee hiring program in the Netherlands. Through this partnership, we hope to continue to support those seeking new opportunities through thoughtful, dedicated, and empathetic actions, and to play a small part in someone else’s story through the power of refugee integration.”: says Natalie Keast, Senior HR Director Northern Europe at PepsiCo.
Over 290,000 refugees live in the Netherlands, which has welcomed over 118,000 Ukrainian refugees alongside an estimated 40,000 asylum seekers and 132,000+ statushouders from countries such as Syria, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, and Eritrea. Statushouders and asylum seekers have the right to work but have extremely low labor participation rates - for statushouders roughly 12%, two years after being granted asylum, increasing to only 46% after six years. This percentage is higher for Ukrainians in the country, as they have been given the immediate right to work upon arrival. Roughly 55% of Ukrainians are working in the Netherlands, two years after arriving.
Comparatively, however, the general net labor participation rate in the Netherlands is 73% – meaning that for statushouders, asylum seekers, and Ukrainians alike, much more must be done to meet this moment and support them into jobs.
With more than 400,000 positions currently vacant across industries ranging from hospitality to healthcare, the 40+ inaugural companies of Tent Nederland have come together to accelerate their efforts to tackle the structural barriers refugees and asylum seekers commonly face when trying to access the labor market – such as limited local language proficiency, lack of professional and social networks, gaps in their CVs, and childcare responsibilities – and connect them to jobs across all skill levels.
Tent Nederland will offer member companies a host of services free of charge including: resources and trainings for human resource teams; best practices and ideas distilled from Tent’s network of hundreds of major companies across a dozen countries who are hiring and integrating refugees into their workforces, as well as tailored programs and insights to the Dutch market context; regular convenings and workshops with other Tent Nederland member companies for peer-to-peer learning; and introductions to best-in-class partners across the Netherlands that can source refugee talent.
“There are now more open positions than unemployed people in the Netherlands,” said Hélène van Melle, Director of Tent Nederland. “As this will only continue to intensify, hiring refugees should be recognized as a win-win-win: a long-term solution to the acute labor shortages, an opportunity for refugees to rebuild their lives and a way for them to contribute to society. In uncertain and changing times for the world and for our country, Tent Nederland and our network of major companies recognize there is much more to be done and commit to driving refugee and asylum seeker hiring at scale.”
About PepsiCo
PepsiCo products are enjoyed by consumers more than one billion times a day in more than 200 countries and territories around the world. PepsiCo generated nearly $92 billion in net revenue in 2024, driven by a complementary beverage and convenient foods portfolio that includes Lay’s, Doritos, Cheetos, Gatorade, Pepsi-Cola, Mountain Dew, Quaker, and SodaStream. PepsiCo’s product portfolio includes a wide range of enjoyable foods and beverages, including many iconic brands that generate more than $1 billion each in estimated annual retail sales.
Guiding PepsiCo is our vision to Be the Global Leader in Beverages and Convenient Foods by Winning with pep+ (PepsiCo Positive). pep+ is our strategic end-to-end transformation that puts sustainability and human capital at the center of how we will create value and growth by operating within planetary boundaries and inspiring positive change for planet and people. For more information, visit www.pepsico.com, and follow on X (Twitter), Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn @PepsiCo.
About Tent Nederland
With the Netherlands welcoming significant numbers of refugees, businesses have a critical role to play in helping them integrate economically in their new communities. Tent Nederland is a network of more than 40 major companies that are committed to hiring refugees across the country and helping them become job-ready. Tent Nederland is the national coalition of the Tent Partnership for Refugees, which was founded in 2016 by Hamdi Ulukaya, the CEO and founder of Chobani – a multibillion dollar food company in the U.S. – to mobilize the world’s largest employers to help refugees access local labor markets. In addition to the Netherlands, Tent operates in ten other countries across the Americas and Europe. Find out more at www.tent.org/nederland.