Spain’s Minister of Inclusion Elma Saiz joins dozens of business leaders to mark the first anniversary of Tent España

• Since launch, 21 major employers committed to refugees’ labor market integration have joined Tent España, making the national business coalition now 54 member companies strong  

Madrid, February 19, 2025 – Tent España – the national business coalition of over 50 leading companies committed to helping refugees and asylum seekers connect to work across the country – is marking one year since its launch with an event today in Madrid that will be attended by Spain’s Minister for Inclusion, Social Security, and Migration Elma Saiz. 

In a roundtable organized with senior business leaders from Tent España member companies including Alsea, Amazon, IKEA, and Sanofi, the Minister will reaffirm the Spanish government’s ongoing commitment to work closely with Tent España to address the structural barriers refugees and asylum seekers face when trying to access the Spanish labor market. Minister Saiz will also hear directly from company representatives key learnings from their respective refugee hiring efforts over the past year to help identify ways to collaborate and scale these efforts even more effectively.

This follows the formal collaboration announced in 2023 with Tent España that has since seen Spain’s Ministry for Inclusion, Social Security, and Migration support key initiatives that help connect refugees and asylum seekers living in Spain and with the legal right to work to open roles as well as mentorship opportunities with Tent España member companies. 

As Tent España seeks to deepen its work and impact in 2025, it is pleased to announce the launch of a new steering committee comprised of top business leaders from its network of member companies, which will play a crucial role in further advancing hiring impact and enhancing the socio-economic integration of refugees in Spain. Minister Saiz reaffirmed her commitment that the Ministry will periodically attend working meetings with Tent España’s steering committee in an effort to further deepen public and private sector collaboration on refugee and asylum seeker hiring. 

Spain currently hosts 423,000 refugees and 254,000 asylum seekers, who have a legal right to work, and this number continues to grow to historic levels. Yet, despite labor shortages in key sectors, many of them are unemployed. As refugees and asylum seekers face numerous obstacles when trying to find work – such as limited local language proficiency, lack of professional and social networks, gaps in their CVs, and childcare and transportation challenges – there is thus both a need and urgency for companies to help reduce the barriers they commonly face and hire them. 

“The Government of Spain is committed to the employability of migrants as a guarantee of full inclusion. The labor integration of refugees not only enriches our economy, but it also strengthens our social fabric and reflects our commitment to a more inclusive, cohesive and fair society. We invite all companies to take action and be ambassadors of these best practices to offer real opportunities to those seeking refuge in our country,” said the Minister of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, Elma Saiz.

“We are thrilled to see, after just one year since launch, 21 more major companies – including ACCIONA, Banco Santander, Brico Depôt, and PepsiCo – join Tent España, committing to work hand-in-hand with us and play their role in helping more refugees and asylum seekers find employment in our country,” said Amaia Elizalde, Director of Tent España. “This is a testament to the ongoing efforts and impact of our inaugural member companies in helping refugees find jobs or become job-ready, as well as to the essential support the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security, and Migration has shown to our coalition.”

With Tent España seeing an ever-increasing interest from the Spanish business community to connect to this largely untapped talent pool and integrate them into the workforce, the 21 new leading companies that have joined Tent España since its launch are: ACCIONA, Allianz, AmRest, Banco Santander, BCD Travel, Ben & Jerry’s, Berry Global, Brico Depôt , Cisco, Citi, Hyatt, Ineco, PepsiCo, Philips, Roche Diagnostics, Salesforce, SAP, Sonepar, Squire Patton Boggs, Swissport, and Tata Consultancy Services. 

Tent España offers member companies a host of services free of charge including: resources and trainings for HR teams; the sharing of best practices and ideas, distilled from Tent’s international network of hundreds of companies and tailored to the Spanish context; regular convenings and workshops with other Tent España member companies for peer-to-peer learning; and introductions to best-in-class NGO partners that can connect companies to refugee talent.

To learn more about Tent España and to see the full list of its network of 54 member companies, please visit www.tent.org/espana.

About Tent España

With Spain welcoming significant numbers of refugees, businesses have a critical role to play in helping them integrate economically in their new communities. Tent España is a network of over 50 major companies that are committed to hiring refugees across the country and helping them become job-ready. Tent España 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 Spain, Tent operates in ten other countries across the Americas and Europe. Find out more at www.tent.org/espana.