USA: Starbucks To Recruit 10,000 Refugees Worldwide, Airbnb Offers Free Accomodation

Leaders of several American companies have announced plans to hire, house or otherwise support people affected by President Trump's sweeping freeze on people seeking asylum in the U.S. or traveling from seven largely Muslim countries.

NPR's Carrie Johnson breaks down the president's executive order on immigration here.

Starbucks Chairman and CEO Howard Schultz says his company plans to hire 10,000 refugees in the next five years in the 75 countries where it does business.

In a letter to current employees on Sunday, Schultz said the company would "start this effort here in the U.S. by making the initial focus of our hiring efforts on those individuals who have served with U.S. troops as interpreters and support personnel in the various countries where our military has asked for such support."

Starbucks has about 238,000 employees worldwide, 157,000 of whom work in the U.S., according to a 2015 regulatory filing.

Schultz also directly addressed the potential effects that "proposed trade sanctions, immigration restrictions and taxes" might have on the company's business in Mexico, where it says it has nearly 600 stores:

"We stand ready to help and support our Mexican customers, partners and their families as they navigate what impact proposed trade sanctions, immigration restrictions and taxes might have on their business and their trust of Americans. But we will continue to invest in this critically important market all the same."

He also reiterated the company's past assurance to employees who purchase health insurance under the Affordable Care Act that they "will always have access to health insurance through Starbucks," even if the law is repealed, as congressional Republicans and President Trump have vowed to do.

The CEO of the global home-rental company Airbnb, Brian Chesky, wrote on Facebook that the company is "providing free housing to refugees and anyone else who needs it in the event they are denied the ability to board a US-bound flight and are not in your city/country of residence."

"We have 3M homes, so we can definitely find people a place to stay," he wrote, referring to the private residences users list for rental through Airbnb.

On its website, Airbnb invited people to volunteer their homes for free to people affected by the immigration freeze. "If free housing is not available in certain markets, Airbnb will subsidize the cost of necessary listings," a spokesperson wrote in an email to NPR, pointing out that the new policy is part of an ongoing company program that connects relief workers at refugee camps in Europe with people volunteering free housing.

The ride-hailing companies Uber and Lyft also reacted to the order by announcing changes to company policies.

Lyft announced it would donate $1 million over the next four years to the American Civil Liberties Union "to defend our constitution."

Uber CEO Travis Kalanick said the company was working on a plan to pay drivers "who use Uber and come from the listed countries, many of whom take long breaks to go back home to see their extended family. These drivers currently outside of the U.S. will not be able to get back into the country for 90 days."

Kalanick is one of 19 business leaders who accepted positions on Trump's economic advisory team.

On Sunday, Uber's operation in New York City pointed to Kalanick's announcement as evidence that the company was not on board with the immigration freeze, after its drivers seemingly undercut a protest of the policy by New York City taxi drivers.

"On Saturday, as demonstrators gathered at John F. Kennedy International Airport to protest President Trump's immigration ban, the New York Taxi Workers Alliance (NYTWA) released a statement condemning the administration's controversial executive order.

"Later, the NYTWA directed its 'largely Muslim,' 19,000 members to participate in a one-hour strike at JFK in solidarity with the protesters. With thousands demonstrating boisterously outside the airport, the taxi lines normally packed with passengers inside the terminal were cordoned off entirely. And while none of the new arrivals at JFK had any luck hailing a yellow cab, the effects of the work stoppage were minimized in part by Uber, the ride-hailing app, which continued to operate at the airport throughout the strike.

"Later, after the NYTWA's work stoppage ended, Uber tweeted that it had turned off surge-pricing at JFK, effectively undercutting taxi drivers as they returned to work after protesting."

Over the weekend, the CEOs of Google, Twitter, Facebook and Apple all issued statements condemning the freeze and "complaining that the order was pushed through so quickly it left great uncertainty about the status of some of their best employees," as NPR's Jim Zarroli reported.

"Apple would not exist without immigration, let alone thrive and innovate the way we would do," Apple CEO Tim Cook wrote in a message to his employees. "I've heard from many of you who are deeply concerned about the executive order issued yesterday restricting immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries. I share your concerns. It is not a policy we support."

USA: Airbnb Is A Friend, Not Foe For Cities

In A speech that made veiled reference to the company's narrow victory in San Francisco last week, Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky said one of his top priorities is to make cities Airbnb's ally and clear up its image, which he described as unfairly misunderstood.

At the annual Airbnb Open conference in Paris, Chesky told a crowd of 5,000 hosts and enthusiastic disciples of the home-sharing service that the company's strategic priority will be to strike partnerships with cities and policy makers to help its network of hosts who, collectively, have housed 60 million guests around the world since its inception in 2008.

Airbnb is often "misunderstood" and sometimes attacked, he said, even by the allies that stand to benefit the most from home-sharing: cities.

"How can you succeed as a host if you don't even feel like you belong in your city?" Chesky said.

Last week, a proposition that would have placed stricter measures on short-term vacation rentals in San Francisco, the birthplace of Airbnb, was rejected in a vote split 55% to 45%.

Critics charge the arrival of the home-sharing site is exacerbating a housing crisis in the city, with property owners taking traditional homes off the market and turning them into short-term vacation rentals, driving a housing shortage and pushing lower- and middle-income families out of San Francisco.

Airbnb is also accused of competing unfairly with the hotel industry, which faces stricter regulations and taxes.

But in a ra-ra speech to the 5,000 hosts from 110 countries gathered at the conference in Paris, Chesky said the company has outlined three measures to bring cities on board and demystify their modus operandi, which include the collection of tourist and hotel taxes; the sharing of information and data; and its commitment to affordable housing.

"Affordable housing is in the roots of our company," he said, referring the genesis of Airbnb, when he and co-founder Joe Gebbia opened up their home to strangers to make rent.

"We don't want to be part of the problem. We think we are and continue to be part of the solution."

Chesky also described the home-sharing service as an alternative to "mass-produced hospitality."

Perhaps one of the most compelling examples Airbnb used to illustrate its point was the story of Julia and Silvio Ortega, one of the first to sign up to the service when Airbnb launched in Cuba this year following the normalisation of relations between the US and Cuba.

"Joining Airbnb has been a game-changer," said wife Julia.

Airbnb Open opened Thursday and wraps up Saturday.