Ximenez Group and the Don Bosco Foundation have signed a collaboration agreement, through which over 20 individuals at risk of social exclusion have been added to the workforce of the Pontana subsidiary company, Ximenez Lighting.
Through this agreement, Ximenez provided specialized training to this group of individuals over several months, with the aim of offering them the opportunity to join their workforce. After completing and successfully passing practical training in various lighting installations for numerous fairs that the company has organized since April in different parts of Andalusia, these twenty individuals have been integrated into Ximenez’s workforce as street lighting installers and will carry out their work at various locations in Spain during the installation of Christmas lighting.
This group of individuals, comprising both women and men, were in vulnerable situations with no access to employment. Thanks to the signing of this initial agreement between Ximenez Group and the Don Bosco Foundation, all of these individuals have been successfully employed.
In the words of Ximenez Group’s Corporate Director of Human Resources, Alberto del Rey Barba, “the social reality compels us to be aware of the labor inequalities that currently surround us.” Therefore, “the company and, in particular, the Human Resources department, as a central policy of the Group, work diligently to develop these types of programs where we can provide a better future for individuals who may be at risk of exclusion.” Thus, “such programs are part of the company’s culture, showing us that, in the face of adversity, the human being can bring out the best in themselves, overcoming any obstacles that may exist,” concludes del Rey.
OFFERING A FUTURE THROUGH EMPLOYMENT
The agreement signed between the Don Bosco Foundation and Ximenez Group is part of the company’s and its Human Resources department’s efforts in recent years to promote the inclusion of individuals at risk of social exclusion in their workforce, in order to provide them with stable employment and a future outlook for these individuals with special needs and in vulnerable situations. These hirings also form part of Ximenez’s active and voluntary contributions to social, economic, and human rights improvement.
In addition to collaborating with the Don Bosco Foundation, Ximenez Group has been working with numerous social organizations and companies with local and national representation for several years to integrate individuals with disabilities and those at risk of exclusion into the workforce, thereby contributing to their social integration through employment.
DON BOSCO FOUNDATION
The Don Bosco Foundation, established on October 26, 1998, has, as its primary goal, the integral development of individuals in situations of risk or social exclusion, within the framework of the promotion and defense of human rights, also acting on other groups that affect this development.
The foundation carries out its work through 10 intervention programs, one of which focuses on socio-labor insertion, through which it creates the necessary conditions for the unemployed by designing personalized, continuous, and comprehensive pathways that enhance their employability, in collaboration with various companies and entities.