This recognition means a lot to us, and we are incredibly proud and humbled to have won the award and been named the Inclusion Company of the Year 2024!
It was an inspiring day with many great talks on workplace inclusion, and it was an honor to be recognized among so many engaged and inclusive participants.
As a large employer, we naturally feel a certain social responsibility to participate in the work of inclusion to prevent exclusion and dropout from the workforce.
It is clear that exclusion and dropout from the workforce have significant socio-economic consequences. Since 2021, we have included nearly 40 people from exclusion to employment in collaboration with NAV and other organizations, which we are very happy about, and we hope for even more in the coming years!
We see that inclusion is important at all stages of working life – for those who are young and newly educated – who need an apprenticeship or perhaps just a chance to get their first job and build experience. It can be for people who may have been unfortunate, made poor choices, or for health reasons have ended up outside the workforce and need a little help to get started.
If we manage to see the person in all this and nurture the potential or talent that resides in them, there will also be value creation for the companies.
Erik Middelthon from IKM Testing accepted the award on behalf of IKM.