04/04/2008

Indesit is Poland’s champion “equal opportunities” company

The prestigious award from the Academy of Management & Institute of New Technologies in Lodz went to Indesit’s “Knowledge, motivation, work” programme in support of higher women’s employment rates.

Fabriano, 4th April 2008 – Indesit Company was judged as the company most sensitive to equal opportunities issues within the framework of “Knowledge, motivation, work – women and careers in the city of Lodz”, a programme co-funded by the European Union and the European Social Fund to boost women’s employment levels in the region, support equal opportunities and combat the social and professional exclusion of women from the labour market. The programme’s closing event was held on 28th March in the Academy of Management & Institute of New Technologies in Lodz. Indesit was given a special mention for its active and innovative role in the project, involving 80 unemployed women who took part in seminars, training courses, workshops, work groups and counselling in the various professional sectors – all aimed at helping them find jobs. In this way, over 1,000 women were able to access useful information. The Company currently employs around 2,500 people in the Lodz area, of whom 45% are women. Two new plants will be opening in Radomsko this year, thus creating another 500 jobs by the end of 2008 and around 1,500 by the end of 2009. Indesit sustains the concept of equal opportunities in all the markets where it operates. Management of “diversity” generates value and is driven by ongoing processes of knowledge, integration and exchange between people belonging to different cultures and races, thus creating development opportunities for people not only on a professional but also a personal level. Not only has Indesit never practised discrimination amongst its employees in terms of gender, religion, politics or culture, it has developed a cross-cultural approach based on respect for and knowledge and understanding of the cultures and geopolitical peculiarities of the people and places where it operates. At the end of 2006, women represented nearly a third of Indesit Company’s workforce (30% of over 17,000 people globally). Their presence in management jobs grew from 8% in 2005 to 14% in 2006. In 2007, Neriman Ulsever, head of Human Resources at Indesit Company, won a “Golden Apple” at the 19th Premio Bellisario for a human resources management policy based on a cross cultural approach aiming to transmit a single company identity so that everyone feels part of “one single company”. Also in 2007, Indesit won the first Intellectual Capital Value Award for its development of human capital, ie. its commitment to developing people, their motivation and skills and attitudes. Indesit Company is Europe’s second biggest manufacturer of household appliances by market share and the world’s fifth. Founded in 1975 by the current chairman Vittorio Merloni and listed on the Milan stock exchange since 1987, the Group posted sales of over €3.4 billion in 2007, having turned out 16 million appliances. Indesit, Hotpoint-Ariston and Scholtès are the Group’s main brands. Indesit Company operates through 17 production facilities and 24 commercial branches worldwide and employs over 17,000 people. For further information:
Press Office
Federico Ziller, phone: +39 0732 66 2432, cell. 335 75 55 508
e-mail: federico.ziller@indesit.com
Chiara Iasiuolo, phone: +39 0732 66 2048, cell. 334 66 60 247
e-mail: chiara.iasiuolo@indesit.com