In the almost two years of Compromiso Valle, Valle del Cauca businessmen have committed to inclusive employment and have created opportunities for the most vulnerable population.
There are already 1,811 people who managed to be formally employed. This is the case of Dolores Noviteño, who came to Cali from Timbiquí, Cauca, together with her daughter and her mother to seek better opportunities. Today she has been employed at Bivien for nine months, a company that groups brands such as Arrurú, Menticol and Aromasence.
“The advantage of having a formal job is that you have your vacations, you have a fixed salary. So, before the fortnight arrives, you already have a plan of what you are going to do with that money. In my case, well, I project that the rent, that I buy a blouse for my daughter. You have money that you already know what you are going to do with it, while in an informal job you don’t even know what to do there because you live from day to day”.
Some barriers identified when looking for a job, especially among women who recognize themselves as Afro-descendants and are between 18 and 28 years old, are living in a certain neighborhood, in areas marked by invisible borders or without access to public transportation; lack of work experience, not having completed high school, showing insecurity, having a criminal record, not having a support network or not having schedules that fit the care of children or dependent adults.
This is how the route is activated
The inclusive employability route starts in the axis of Transformation of Life Projects with the training of participants in soft skills, through the programs of the Sidoc Foundation and ProPacífico.
The process is accompanied by psychosocials, social workers, territorial liaisons and advances with training in skills for employment to end with the employment relationship and accompaniment for permanence.
This route, which began eight months before the signing of the pact, has trained 3,987 participants, 74% achieved a job relationship, 59% have been employed for at least three months and 57% are employed until now.
Some of the barriers that have been identified in the inclusive employability process are: lack of knowledge in relation to the profiles of the required positions, biases due to the neighborhood of residence, not having developed soft skills (assertive communication, adaptability, work in team, conflict resolution, emotional control, following rules).
Also, the lack of access to public transport, difficulty in the adaptation process: compliance with company schedules and protocols. Not having formal work experience, not having completed high school, having a criminal record, lack of a support network for child or family care, invisible borders that make it difficult to fulfill shifts, greater interests in informality.
After the sixth month of permanence on the route, the participant’s evolution is evaluated and their training in job skills begins. Twelve organizations such as Comfandi and the Fanalca and Carvajal foundations are part of this process, which offer training programs for vulnerable young people that last between one and eleven months.
The opportunities
The training process of Carlos Andrés Salgado, a young man who lives in Siloé and who, after being part of the front line during the social outbreak, did not hesitate to take advantage of the first one that came his way, lasted for almost a year.
He applied to the Life Engines training process of the Fanalca Foundation and due to his outstanding performance, learning capacity and discipline, today he works at Fanalca, a motorcycle assembly and marketing company as a mechanic.
439 companies have joined Compromiso Valle as donors, program executing partners, employers or signatories of the pact for inclusive employability.
Among those that have generated the largest number of jobs are: Carvajal Educación, Bellatela, El Molino, Contubos, Fanalca, Bivien, Crepes & Waffles, Mainco Health Care, Spataro, Eka, Versa, Fortox, Eficacia, Summar, Listos and Assertive Management .
The participants have been employed as production operators, warehouse or logistics assistants, business advisers, point of sale or kitchen assistants, and waiters.
Also under construction, general services, drivers, receptionists, call center agents, gas station islanders and security guards.
The inclusive route in companies
Labor inclusion goes through a great organizational and cultural change in companies.
From the signing of the pact for inclusive employability, the organizations begin a process of diagnosis and business accompaniment.
To date, 117 companies have shown their willingness to transform their culture and hiring processes to be more inclusive and thus contribute to closing gaps in the region. The goal in this 2023 is that 60 organizations are trained and certified with the support of Comfandi.
One of the companies that bet on being part of the route is El Molino Bakery. “We saw an opportunity and that we could take advantage of the work they were doing to train and reach people who really don’t have opportunities and who can hardly get a formal job.
We got hooked on that project and we asked them to send us some people to work at Christmas time and it was a very good experience, the people they sent us were very good, excellent people.
We left some permanent in the company and today one can say that they are very grateful people and with a very great human quality”, comments Juan Eduardo Molina, who is part of the Development and Research area of El Molino. He ensures that the experience has exceeded the expectations of his organization.
closing gaps
In this regard, Julián Arango, general manager of the Hercules organization, agrees. “In Valle del Cauca we have a lot of talent. That is why we have joined this project to provide opportunities to close the gaps, being increasingly inclusive job generators.”
off the streets
Arely Dayana Riascos, who today works at Carvajal Educación, also speaks of this transformation process. “What I value most about my formal job is firstly that I got off the streets, because before entering the process I was on the streets with my children selling sweets at a traffic light, it is a part that I value a lot, that now my children can be studying and come home to rest and not be at a traffic light with her mom.
It is a part that I value a lot, the benefits that Comfandi gives me, which is allied with the company, the benefits that they give me from my housing subsidy because since I started the process, with my incentive I began to save for my home and what I value a lot internally in the company, it is camaraderie, equity, respect, opportunities, because Carvajal is a company with many opportunities. Before here I used to pray a lot to the Lord for a good job”.
Whats Next
In addition to the 1,811 people who are already employed, there are currently more than 1,500 participants who are in their training process to move towards employability. It is expected that the organizations linked to the route will continue the process of accompaniment for these young people in the transformation of their life projects.
In 2023, Compromiso Valle will continue paving the way for opportunities for the most vulnerable and articulating companies of all sizes, social leaders, foundations and grassroots organizations to collectively contribute to closing socio-economic gaps in Valle del Cauca and consolidate as a a model of social innovation that can be replicated at the national level.
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