Nearly 10,500 companies collaborate with the "la Caixa" Foundation's Incorpora programme to hire people in vulnerable employment situations
Although access to work is a universal right, not all people have the same opportunities to access the labour market. Certain groups find it more difficult to access employment and develop a productive activity due to socio-cultural, socio-economic or health factors, among others.
In this context, since 2006 the "la Caixa" Foundation has been promoting the Incorpora programme with the aim of accompanying people with disabilities, young people at risk of exclusion, women victims of gender violence, unemployed people over 45 years of age, people deprived of their liberty and people with mental health problems, among other groups to whom it provides support, to improve their employability and achieve their social and occupational integration. The awareness-raising work carried out with companies is essential for them to identify in the Incorpora programme an opportunity to promote motivation and diverse talent and, at the same time, to be able to express their social responsibility and commitment to the values of diversity, equal opportunities and non-discrimination.
Since its launch in 2006, 85,829 companies from sectors as diverse as hospitality, retail, cleaning, social and health care, transport and warehousing have joined the programme. By 2023, 10,482 companies had joined the programme and new companies are joining every year. But something very important is the programme's ability to make companies that have used its services for the first time want to come back for further recruitment needs. Thus, the company loyalty index (which measures the percentage of companies using the Incorpora programme in the same year that use it repeatedly or recurrently) has risen from 47% to 60% in the last five years.
Through their commitment to social and occupational integration, these companies contribute to SDG 8 ("decent work and economic growth") and SDG 10 ("reducing inequalities"), included in the United Nations 2030 Agenda, by opening up new employment opportunities for vulnerable groups.
The Incorpora programme: networking of organisations and technicians
Integration into the job market is possible thanks to the work of the programme's technicians, who design personalised integration itineraries that recognise the potential of the programme's users and promote their active participation in order to achieve effective integration into the job market. Making the person feel that they are the protagonist of their progress and of their process of change is fundamental to increasing their autonomy and to the success of their insertion.
The networking of social entities and their technicians is essential, as it increases the possibilities of covering more quickly and with quality the job offers presented by companies. This helps to eliminate the barriers to hiring the people assisted by the programme and to increase the rate of activity and employment of these groups.
During the first 6 months of 2023, the Incorpora programme provided 22,720 jobs, 4.6% more than in the same period last year. This has been possible thanks to the collaboration of 10,482 companies in this social responsibility project. Of these, 22% are large companies, 35% are medium-sized companies, and 43% are small companies.
Of the total number of placements achieved, 12,241 were for women and 10,479 for men. In addition, 5,489 were people with disabilities and 17,231 were people at risk or in a situation of exclusion.
"Social inclusion and diversity management are a priority for society and having a job is the first step towards achieving this inclusion. The joint work carried out by social entities and companies committed to inclusive employment helps thousands of people in vulnerable situations to regain their autonomy and feel valued for their work and their contribution to society. Incorpora is an example of how, by joining forces, we can go further and achieve progress for more people", said Marc Simón, Deputy Director General of the "la Caixa" Foundation.
Training to improve employability
The programme promotes training actions, with the direct involvement of companies, to improve people's employability skills. Incorpora training helps participants to increase their technical skills and also the transversal skills most in demand by companies, such as flexibility, interpersonal skills, teamwork and digital skills, all of which are essential for the correct performance in the workplace.
In the first half of the year, 172 training courses were held, with more than 4,162 people enrolled. And more than 2,000 job placements have been achieved.
In addition, people with an entrepreneurial attitude and capacity can develop a business plan to create their own company with the support of a personalised itinerary, training and accompaniment provided by the programme through 45 Incorpora self-employment points throughout Spain. In the first 6 months of 2023, the Incorpora programme's Self-employment line has helped to promote 847 new businesses led by people at risk of social exclusion with an entrepreneurial profile.
Promotion of socially responsible territories and organisations
Incorpora also makes a significant contribution to SDG 17 ("alliances to achieve the goals") by fostering the building of alliances by weaving relationships with the territory, third sector organisations and collaborating companies to innovate, create positive impacts for people and society, and develop solutions for sustainability.
These alliances are key to achieving the programme's strategic objectives and, thanks to them, the Incorpora Network, made up of 489 social entities in Spain, Portugal, Morocco, Hungary and Poland, has helped 58,386 people in vulnerable employment situations in the first half of 2023. All of this is carried out by a network of technicians who offer essential personalised attention and continuous monitoring of the participants before, during and after they are hired.
Among the tasks carried out by the labour insertion technicians are the prospecting of companies, the design of personalised labour insertion itineraries, the monitoring of the training process of the person assisted and a labour monitoring and accompaniment that validates the correct adjustment of the people hired to the characteristics of the jobs.