In the bakery and the sale of the Goldbrötchen bakery in Vogtland, employees with disabilities are normal. This is by no means the case in all companies in Saxony.
Falkenstein/Chemnitz (dpa/sn) - The employment of people with disabilities has reached a high in Saxony, but in a nationwide comparison the Free State is still lagging behind. There is still room for improvement, stated the head of the regional directorate of the Federal Employment Agency, Klaus-Peter Hansen, on Wednesday. "The integration of severely disabled people offers many opportunities," he emphasized. They have above-average qualifications and, with suitable job aids financed by employment agencies and integration offices, can perform 100 percent. "They are often the specialists that are desperately needed."
According to the Federal Employment Agency, more than 58,000 people with disabilities had a job in Saxony that was subject to social security contributions in 2020. That was a good 6,200 more than in 2015, it said. Companies with at least 20 employees are obliged to fill 5 percent of their jobs with severely disabled people. However, not all companies comply with this. The rate in this group is only 4.1 percent and thus lower than in the national comparison (4.6 percent), according to the regional directorate.
An example in Vogtland shows how inclusion can become normal in companies. In the Goldbrötchen bakery in Falkenstein, 11 of the 46 employees are severely disabled. The owner Gerd-Ralf Jahnsmüller explained that the job market is often difficult for people with disabilities, which he saw from two relatives with trisomy 21. "And if anyone can help people with disabilities, then it's us, the entrepreneurs." It also pays off.
Inclusion has been practiced in the company for 15 years. This included, for example, the barrier-free furnishing of the workplaces and branches as well as a new department for firewood production and landscape maintenance, in order to be able to give those affected another area of work at short notice if necessary. "We are now not only more social, but also more competitive," emphasized Jahnsmüller. The company was awarded the nationwide Inclusion Prize for Business 2021 for its commitment.
