💼 Jobs as a possible alternative to conflict
When we discuss the relationship between business and peace, job creation is usually one of the first points that comes to mind. A business that invests in a conflict-affected area can create more than income. It can offer people an alternative to participating in conflict and give them a more stable way to provide for their families.
While working with different groups in the MENA region, I came across the case of a conflict in Sudan where two groups were fighting over agricultural land and the resources that could be produced from it. This made me think about what could happen if a large business invested in such an area and created sustainable employment opportunities.
Maybe some of the people involved in the conflict would start to see that they do not necessarily belong to the war itself, but are being used as troops by more powerful actors. A stable job could provide them with another option, a safer space to rebuild their lives, and perhaps even a reason to leave their weapons behind.
💭 A business operating in a conflict-affected area can create more than income. It can offer people another path.
⚖️ Jobs do not automatically create peace
However, the existence of jobs alone does not automatically create peace. The way those jobs are created, distributed, and managed is equally important.
A company could unintentionally deepen tensions if it recruits mainly from one ethnic or political group, takes control of local land or water, pays unfair wages, or cooperates with corrupt authorities and armed actors. In this case, the business may become part of the conflict rather than part of its solution.
Therefore, the peacebuilding value of business depends on whether it operates in a conflict-sensitive, ethical, and locally inclusive way. Job creation can contribute to peace when people from different groups have fair access to opportunities, when local communities benefit from the investment, and when employment provides dignity, stability, and a realistic path toward a better future.
🕊️ Employment can support peace, but only when opportunities are created and distributed fairly.
🌱 Shared value must develop from employment into empowerment
Creating shared value can strengthen this contribution to peace because it allows a business to solve a local challenge while also creating value for its own operations.
The InterContinental Hotel case in Bangladesh provides a useful example. By training local people in hospitality skills and preparing them for employment, the hotel supports the community through education, professional development, and access to income. At the same time, the hotel benefits from having employees who are already trained according to its standards and way of working.
This kind of programme can reduce financial pressure on families, improve the employability of local people, and strengthen the wider hospitality sector, even when some participants later choose to work for other hotels.
However, the programme may also create a different type of inequality when most trainers, supervisors, and managers are brought from abroad, while local employees remain mainly in junior positions. In this situation, local people may receive access to employment without receiving equal access to power, decision-making, or leadership.
Over time, this can create frustration and smaller conflicts inside the workplace, especially when nationality becomes connected to authority and status.
Therefore, employment should gradually develop into empowerment. By creating transparent promotion pathways, transferring knowledge, preparing local employees for management positions, and distributing responsibility more fairly, the business can create a safer and more culturally sensitive working environment.
Shared value becomes more sustainable when local people are not only trained to work within the business, but are also given a realistic opportunity to influence it and eventually lead it.
🤝 Employment gives people access to work. Empowerment gives them the opportunity to influence, develop and lead.
🔎 Coming in Part Two
🕊 Business during conflict
🏗 Business as a contributor to recovery and reconciliation
This discussion does not end with employment and shared value. It also raises two further questions:
How should businesses behave while conflict is still taking place?
What role can they play in rebuilding livelihoods, trust and social relationships after violence decreases?
In the second part, I will explore these questions through case studies from Syria, examining businesses that continued operating during the conflict or returned to work afterward.