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Chobani is known for extending its talent strategy beyond traditional hires. The yogurt company’s CEO, Hamdi Ulukaya, has loudly championed hiring refugees for years. “These people have different traumas. But by adjusting policies to adapt to those traumas, having conversations in our HR department, and bringing awareness in the company that they might have some shortcomings, you can dramatically change those people’s lives,” he told Fortune’s Phil Wahba in January.
His outlook, which was heavily centered on HR, intrigued me, so I spoke to Chobani’s chief people officer Shari Eaton—a former Peloton HR executive who’s now nine months into her tenure at Chobani—to discuss the company’s strategy for hiring refugees and supporting its workforce in a challenging economy.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Fortune: What initiatives are you most proud of that you’ve rolled out recently?
Shari Eaton: Our CEO and I go to our plants and listen to our teams, so we knew that affordable and accessible childcare was on their minds.
We just announced our new partnership with childcare provider WeeCare, offering our employees a $1,200 annual stipend that they can use either within the WeeCare network or for their own babysitter. It’s for all employees, whether they’re in manufacturing, corporate, or part of our sales team.
We’ve also increased our starting wage for full-time hourly employees to $20 per hour, up from $18.50 last year.
How do the needs of Chobani’s workforce differ from most U.S. employees?
We’ve hired hundreds of refugees. Because of that, we’ve created ESL classes and invested in different language programs for line managers to communicate better with our refugee population and our leaders.
Although the refugee talent pipeline preceded your arrival, what results have you seen recently?
We have some pretty impressive tenure. Folks come in, feel the investment in people, and are galvanized by the mission. Even looking at the average manufacturing tenure [of about five years], we exceed that. Employees in our plants have an average tenure of six years. I believe that’s the business case from a retention standpoint.
Amber Burton
amber.burton@fortune.com
@amberbburton
Reporter's Notebook
The most compelling data, quotes, and insights from the field.
U.S. employers added 209,000 jobs in June, and unemployment dropped to 3.6% from 3.7% in May, according to the Labor Department’s latest report. Though hiring appears to be cooling slightly, the job market remains strong.
“People who have lost jobs in tech or real estate have been able to find new jobs very quickly in industries that are still short-handed,” Bill Adams, chief economist for Comerica Bank, told the Wall Street Journal.
Around the Table
A round-up of the most important HR headlines, studies, podcasts, and long-reads.
- Employers are hungry for A.I. tools in the workplace, and tech companies are rushing to develop them and meet demand. New York Times
- The number of Americans voluntarily quitting their jobs is on the decline. U.S. workers left 3.8 million jobs in April, down from a peak of 4.5 million quits in November 2021. Wall Street Journal
- ADP’s latest employment report found that annual pay rose at a 6.4% rate in June, slowing from 6.6% in May. CNBC
- Big Tech layoffs have disproportionately affected women, widening the sector's gender gap. Axios
Watercooler
Everything you need to know from Fortune.
Productivity bust. Professors contributing to research at Stanford’s Institute for Economic Policy and Research found that fully remote work is associated with 10% to 20% lower productivity than fully in-person work. —Jane Thier
Assignment denied. A Deloitte survey of Gen Z and Millennial employees found that 40% would reject work assignments due to ethical concerns or value misalignment. —Elizabeth Faber
Office rebound. For office attendance to rebound, a commercial real estate CEO says leaders must be open to bringing back boom-time perks like lounges, cafés, doormen, and free coffee. —Alena Botros
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