ILO Global Network on disability expands

Volkswagen Automatic Transmission (Tianjin) Co. Ltd. joins the ILO’s Global Business and Disability Network. This made the car maker company the 15th member of the Chinese Chapter of the Global Network.

Press release | Beijing, China | 17 September 2018
Beijing (ILO News), ) -- At a night event organized by the European Union Chamber of Commerce in Tianjin on 14 September, Volkswagen Automatic Transmission (Tianjin) Co. Ltd., announced their decision to join the ILO’s Global Business and Disability Network(GBDN). This made the car maker company the 15th member of the Chinese Chapter of the Global Network.

“We are honored to join the Network, share our practices and advance the hiring, development and retention of people with disabilities. It is great to partner with others so as to form a critical mass of businesses hiring persons with disability.” said Mrs. Stefanie Wangemann, Head of HR Organization & Education of Volkswagen Automatic Transmission (Tianjin).
The GBDN, an initiative of the International Labour Organization, gathers the expertise and support of companies willing to promote the employment of people with disabilities. At the request of its members, the European Chamber Tianjin Chapter organized the “CSR Celebration & Network Night” during which the GBDN was officially presented. “We want to use the Chamber as a platform to work with different parties to promote disability and inclusion in Tianjin, the chamber will continue to facilitate CSR and disability inclusion collaboration among our members” said Mr. Cheung Yup Fan, Chair of European Chamber Tianjin Chapter.

During the event, companies share their practices and experience. One of the speakers, Standard Chartered Global Business Services CO. Ltd, a founding member of GBDN-China, explained how they build disability confidence at the workplace. “We are making progress: from having 4 employees with disability in 2016, we now have 23. We can count on the great support from the Tianjin University of Technology which has programmes for students with hearing impairs. We are promoting linkages. Line managers, HR teams, students, employees with disability and their parents are all learning from each other!” recounts Ms. Milly Zhang, Head of HRBP Banking Operations, of Standard Chartered Global Business Services CO, Ltd.

Partnership is central to sustainable social and economic development. The innovative approaches taken by businesses in Tianjin to realize and sustain disability inclusive workplaces are very encouraging.

For more information about the ILO Global Business and Disability Network, please contact:

Ms Gloria Zheng, ILO Country Office for China and Mongolia, beijing@ilo.org, Tel. +86 10 6532 5091 ext. 111

Mr Zhou Haibin, ILO GBDN China Coordinator, haibin.zhou@easyinclusion.cn, Tel. +86 135-4535-9705

Coordinator, ILO Global Business and Disability Network, businessanddisability@ilo.org