Emily Ann Riedel elegantly flips a waffle onto the serving plate at “Emily’s corner”. A unique station she takes care of in her job at the Scandic Stavanger Forus hotel, which the guests love. – This is a dream that has come true, says Emily about the job she has received via the Helt med foundation, because she has Down’s syndrome. The job has given her great experiences, as then Prime Minister Erna Solberg (H) met her to talk about work inclusion in 2019. A few kilometers away in central Stavanger, hotel director Linda Vågen Pedersen wants to come up with a similar concept for a person with developmental disability. She is looking for a breakfast employee for her hotel. But it hasn’t gone smoothly. Currently, she has no qualified applicants. Hotel director Linda Våge Pedersen shows Hanne Kluge the coffee station she wants to use when she hires via Helt med. Photo: Hanne Høyland / news – Where are you? Apply, we are ready, says Pedersen. She is eager. She wants to achieve this, and she is willing to facilitate. – It hasn’t gone very well yet, but we were hoping that the right person would get in touch, she continues. Bets on inclusion In April this year, it was announced that Stavanger will give 20 people in the municipality with developmental disabilities jobs. The position at the hotel in Stavanger is one of these. But there are also few applicants for other positions the foundation currently has out. – I am surprised, I had thought there would be an influx of applicants, says Pedersen. Hanne Kluge is a job specialist in Helt med, she is also surprised. According to Kluge, it is easy to get hold of companies that want to work with work inclusion. But the fact that the applicants should not turn up is surprising. So far, the foundation has ensured that 310 people across the country have found permanent employment with their help. And they hope there will be many more. The problem is not that there is no need, but that it is difficult to reach the right candidates. – It may not be a target group that is actively looking for positions. Someone may have received disability benefits and is defined as “cleared”, and that is a shame, Kluge believes. – Have to look Tom Tvedt is the leader of the Norwegian Association for the Developmentally Disabled. – Unfortunately, it does not surprise me. Many are educated for nothing. After 13 years through the school system, it says “not assessed” on the diploma. In reality, this means that you are trained to be automatically on social security. No one has made a claim on them. Tom Tvedt, head of the Norwegian Association for the Developmentally Disabled. Tvedt is one hundred percent sure that there are good people for the positions. An extra effort just needs to be made to find them, he believes. He is happy that Stavanger municipality, and others, have started to open up these workplaces. The way the positions work today, they are associated with municipalities that collaborate with Helt med. Here, the municipalities should open up so that the applicants can also belong to the neighboring municipalities, Tvedt believes. – I see that the municipalities should create a political regional committee. This should be one of the first things they address: A common labor market for those who also have developmental disabilities, he says. Applied for a caretaker position Hotel director Ulrika Larsson believes more people should do like Emily Ann Riedel. Emily Ann Riedel in full swing cleaning down her waffle station for the day. Photo: Hanne Høyland / news She applied for a caretaker position. But Larsson quickly realized that she was not qualified for this role. Then she made arrangements so that Emily could become a kitchen helper at the hotel. They have now worked together for five years and both love it. – Emily is one of the best hires I have made in my career. She contributes to creating both financial results, service results and a good working environment, which is important in a workplace, says Larsson. Kluge supports the call. She hopes that people with developmental disabilities contact the foundation in their municipality, or apply for one of the jobs advertised, if they dream of an adapted job in ordinary working life. – We are good at organizing, she says. Published 11.09.2024, at 22.49
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Helt med struggles to recruit for adapted positions – news Rogaland – Local news, TV and radio
