WPP CEO Sorrell: Immigrants Have Made Major Contributions to the U.K. Economy
President Donald Trump’s executive order suspending immigration from seven predominantly Muslim countries in the Middle East and North Africa has created a stir inside the business community, causing CEOs from major companies to openly voice concerns.
Just two days after Trump signed the order, Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) CEO Howard Schultz pledged that the Seattle-based coffee company would hire 10,000 refugees over the next five years.
More recently, Sir Martin Sorrell, who is in charge of WPP, the biggest advertising firm, said he has an “instinctive dislike” of actions similar to President Trump’s.
“I think the downside of restriction outweighs the positives,” he told FOX Business’ Neil Cavuto. “Instinctively I just believe that immigration and the sort of things that we’re seeing in the world, whether it be in Syria or elsewhere, means that we… as well as having rights and powers, we have obligations to help.”
Sorrell, who is the grandson of immigrants from Ukraine, Poland, Romania and the U.K., said he worries about the impact it could have on his company’s employees.
“We have, for example, in the U.K. in relation to immigration—it’s the same issue. We have 17,000 people in the U.K., 200,000 people worldwide. Of the 17,000 people in the U.K., 20% are EU citizens. So what is their future? So the same thing applies here in the U.S.,” he said.
The advertising executive added: “I am a second-generation U.K. immigrant and I think immigrants have made major contributions to the U.K. economy.”