Safeway
has signed a national agreement with Remploy to open up employment
opportunities for disabled people within its stores.
The
agreement will build on work carried out by Safeway over the last 18 months to
increase the number of people it employs with disabilities.
Remploy
is the UK’s largest provider of employment for disabled people and last year
the organisation helped a record number of people with disabilities into jobs.
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. The employment organisation
will also provide its clients with any support and backup they might require to
help them integrate into the company.
Disabled
candidates will also be able to access the job vacancies via the internet.
Stuart
Knowles, executive director at Remploy, hoped the agreement would 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
hugely encouraging to see employers such as Safeway recognising their skills
and abilities.”
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