More than 50 CEOs of companies, social actors and government make a commitment to Kris Peeters: 'We build bridges to integrate vulnerable people into our employment market'

05/12/2016

More than 50 CEOs of companies, social actors and government make a commitment to Kris Peeters: 'We build bridges to integrate vulnerable people into our employment market'

05/12/2016

CEOs of more than 50 organizations are joining forces to integrate vulnerable people - refugees, the disabled and low-skilled young people - into our employment market: companies such as Proximus, Accenture, Securex and Sodexo, social organizations such as Diversicom and Duo For A Job, and public undertakings such as the VDAB.

On 5 December they presented federal deputy prime minister Kris Peeters with a charter setting out their commitment:

  • Employers are working to establish an inclusive recruitment policy to reflect the diversity of society in their organization.
  • Each actor does what is within its capabilities to create sustainable employment; this can include offering internships, voluntary coaching of staff, and so on.

There are already many interesting initiatives in Belgium today to facilitate access to the employment market. Unfortunately these remain very fragmented and small-scale and we lack the necessary collaboration between the different actors to bring job seekers and employers into contact with each other.

The Belgian sustainability network The Shift took the initiative to activate its network of 350 members and to start up and extend partnerships. Through the charter Decent work for all, it gives its members the opportunity of taking on an active role in the network and thus create better work for all.

Every actor will contribute according to its specific expertise and capabilities. That raises Corporate Social Enterprise to the next level: it's not just about financial sponsoring but also about broader collaboration where employees volunteer to coach job seekers or provide their services free of charge and make their knowledge available to social organizations.

A fine example is Proximus' Digitalent project. Every year a number of young people without qualifications are given a series of workshops to give them a grounding in the ICT world. Under the guidance of professional coaches, they set to work in 3D printing and programming, and learn how to build websites. For this project, Proximus is working in partnership with the employment offices VDAB, Actiris and Forem and the non-profit organization Youthstart. Thanks to this successful formula, Proximus has been able to help as many as 120 young people to get a job or training course in Antwerp, Brussels, Mechelen, Ghent, Hasselt, Liège, Charleroi, Namur and Mons.

Another company that is very active in helping the vulnerable to get work is the consultancy firm Accenture. For example, in Belgium it offers free consulting to about 10 social organizations. Thanks to the partnership with Atlas - vzw Integratie en Inburgering Antwerpen, the Antwerp non-profit organization for integration and naturalization - more than 20 highly trained newcomers receive mentoring from Accenture employees (Connect2Work). These people receive intensive guidance in a quest for work that matches their level of training, including within Accenture Belgium. In addition, Accenture is also working free of charge on an IT system to organize the Connect2Work mentoring more efficiently in order to reach even more people in the future.

At Sodexo the integration of people with a disability forms an integral part of its diversity policy. The company is convinced that such integration is an enrichment for the person in question and for the team he or she joins. Such was the case with, for example, Julie Brossard, a specialist in patisserie who is deaf. Under the guidance of welfare organization AVIQ, she worked with the kitchen team at the Sodexo main office and was given an open-ended employment contract, effective since November. Over the past financial year, around 50 people with a disability did an internship at Sodexo, a number that keeps rising every year.

This and other interesting partnerships within the scope of Decent work for all tie in with the UN's sustainability agenda. After all, one of the development goals is to create dignified work for all, irrespective of background, education or disability.

Would you like more information about the Decent Work for All charter and all the partnerships that have resulted from it or which are being scaled up? In that case, please feel free to contact Sabine Denis at The Shift, Magali Frankl at Accenture or Haroun Fenaux at Proximus.

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Proximus SA published this content on 05 December 2016 and is solely responsible for the information contained herein.
Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 05 December 2016 15:09:20 UTC.

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