Zara owner to double number of employees with disabilities within two years

Zara owner Inditex has announced that it is to double its number of employees with disabilities worldwide within two years.

This will include boosting the inclusion of people with differing abilities across its stores, logistics platforms, warehouses and offices and  could mean that 1,500 people with some form of disability will join the business.

Inditex’s chief executive Óscar García Maceiras announced the commitment at a meeting with Gilbert Houngbo, the director general of the International Labour Organization, after the company endorsed the ILO Global Business and Disability Network which promotes disability inclusion in the workplace.

Maceiras said: “Disability inclusion in the workplace is a core component of our commitment to people. Diversity, fairness and inclusion are values we all embrace, values we pursue day-to-day, in order to have an impact within Inditex as well as all around us: our pledge is to design opportunities for everyone.”

Inditex is working with the ILO in its efforts to create inclusive workplaces where people with disabilities have the equal opportunities to jobs and career development.

The collaboration is major step forward in Inditex’s disability inclusion strategy, which focuses on championing inclusive recruiting and career development, fostering accessible workplaces conducive to ensuring equal opportunities, facilitating an inclusive shopping experience, and raising teams’ awareness of disability.