Telenor welcomes four new participants in the program for people with disabilities Open Mind

Telenor welcomed four new employees who will start working at the company as part of the career development program for people with disabilities Open Mind. This gave start to the fourth edition of the program.

Attending the official event was the Chief Executive Officer of Telenor Bulgaria Jason King, as well as the Chief Director of “People and Strategy” at the company Galina Chuleva. Guest to the event was Joana Koleva from the NGO JAMBA which helps people with diverse abilities to be included in the job market.

The Open Mind program gives people with disabilities the opportunity to develop their social and functional skills and to raise their competitiveness and qualification by working in the company. The new participants in the program will be part of teams in “Marketing”, “Technologies”, and “People and culture” divisions. During the next two years they will work on real projects in Telenor, and the company will provide them with open and accessible environment and equal remuneration package, according to the position.

During this time the participants will have the opportunity to gather experience and to learn from Telenor’s best professionals, which will help them gather confidence for their future career development. After the program finishes Telenor will support the participants for their further professional development on the labor market and some of them may also receive an offer for a job in the company.

For a second year Telenor extends the scope of the program by inviting representatives of other responsible companies for a discussion on the challenges of executing such initiatives.

“This is the fourth edition of Open Mind which is a fascinating achievement and a proof that this is a sustainable program which brings change. I am really happy with the results of it and that it manages to raise awareness among the people in the company, as well as in society. All this gives us confidence that we are on the right path”, said Mr. King.

„I hope that more companies will follow Telenor’s example and will open their doors for people with diverse abilities. Our participation in the selection process for Open Mind in 2018 is an exception privilege for us and we strongly believe that the good relationship between the non-government sector and the business will lead to much more opportunities for the people with disabilities in Bulgaria”, said Joana Koleva from JAMBA.

Telenor Bulgaria’s program for people with disabilities is held annually as part of the company’s long-term corporate responsibility strategy. In the last three years 13 participants joined the company as part of Process Management, Legal Affairs, Human Resources, Marketing and other divisions. Of all participants so far, four stayed in Telenor Bulgaria after the end of the program.