Safeway
has signed a national agreement with Remploy to open up employment
opportunities for disabled people within its stores.
The
agreement with the company will build on work by Safeway over the past 18
months to increase the number of people with disabilities it employs.
Remploy
is the UK’s largest provider of employment for disabled people, and last year
the organisation helped 12,100 people with disabilities into jobs – a record
number.
Nicola
Instone, HR director for stores at Safeway, said the agreement would help
reinforce the firm’s commitment to providing job opportunities for the
disabled.
“This
agreement represents a huge step forward in reaffirming a policy that is
already inherent in our culture and will further increase the number of
disabled people we employ,” she said.
“It
will enable us to have access to a broader pool of potential employees with a
range of skills, thereby creating a more diverse workforce.”
Under
the agreement, Safeway will notify Remploy of any vacancies and its advisers
will then deal directly with individual stores. In addition, Remploy will
provide its clients with support and backup to help them integrate into the
company. Disabled candidates will also be able to access Safeway’s job
vacancies via the internet.
Stuart
Knowles, executive director at Remploy, hopes the agreement will encourage
other large employers to follow Safeway’s example.
“There
are many thousands of disabled people with a whole range of skills who want to
work and are simply looking for an opportunity to do so,” he said.
“It
is encouraging to see employers such as Safeway recognising their skills and
abilities.”
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By
Ben willmott
