ACCIONA and the ONCE Foundation step up their commitment to employment for differently-abled people

The agreement was signed by ONCE Foundation's Executive Vice-chairman, Alberto Durán, and ACCIONA Vice-chairman, Juan Ignacio Entrecanales.

The signing is part of the Programa Por Talento [Program For Talent] which is being carried out by the ONCE Foundation through FSC Inserta, with the co-financing of the European Social Fund.

The ONCE Foundation and ACCIONA today renewed in Madrid their "Inserta" Agreement (signed initially in 2007) which will enable 350 differently-abled people to join the Company over the next four years.

The Agreement was signed by the ONCE Foundation's Executive Vice-chairman, Alberto Durán, and ACCIONA Vice-chairman, Juan Ignacio Entrecanales. The Agreement is among the actions being carried out by the ONCE Foundation as part of the Programa Por Talento [Program For Talent], a scheme aimed at providing training and employment for differently-abled people, co-financed by the European Social Fund.

Alberto Durán points out that it is important for companies to know that hiring a differently-abled person brings with it a number of benefits because it involves "surrounding yourself with employees who, owing to their special difficulties, are better able to tackle problems than an able-bodied person, they're better at taking on day-to-day problems". Moreover, he says, "it's important that hiring differently-abled people is looked upon as something normal in recruitment processes".

ACCIONA's Juan Ignacio Entrecanales emphasized the advantages already obtained by working alongside the ONCE Foundation: "Over the past five years we've worked together to create a Foundation with more than 190 new jobs and, what's more important, we've included the strategic objectives laid down in our Sustainability Master Plan the commitment to meet a target of 3% of direct jobs and through a range of alternative measures. In June 2011 we reached the figure of 530 employees, equivalent to 2.58%".

In order to cover the new jobs that they're going to make available, ACCIONA is aided by FSC Inserta, an entity set up by ONCE Foundation to provide training and employment. It short-lists candidates with the best profiles and then provides them with tailored training to carry out the required tasks.

Similarly, ACCIONA will continue to favor indirect job creation for the differently-abled by acquiring goods and services from special employment centers.

ACCIONA's HR strategy is defined by its Strategic Plan 2011-2013 in which diversity and the integration policies are a top priority. In this respect, the differently-abled are a key pillar. Thanks to this Plan, in 2012 sixty-five differently-abled employees joined the Company's ranks.

FSC Inserta

The mission of FSC Inserta, the ONCE Foundation's training and employment entity, is to carry out the Programa por Talento [Program for Talent], an instrument co-financed by the European Social Fund. This ambitious project is part of the Programa Operativo de Lucha contra la Discriminación 2007-2013 [Operational Program for the Fight on Discrimination 2007-2013], and comes as a new boost for job creation for the differently-abled and equal opportunities.