sheltered workshops secrid valuing capabilities

Secrid launches campaign to increase labour participation for people with disabilities

Call to manufacturing industry on Labour Day to make better use of sheltered workshops

The Hague – In the Netherlands, 125,000 people with an occupational disability are still out of work. On Labour Day, Secrid, the Dutch pocketwear brand, is launching a campaign to inspire companies and entrepreneurs in the manufacturing industry to collaborate with sheltered workshops in our country. This initiative, partly in collaboration with Cedris (national association for an inclusive labour market), aims to reduce the gap between the shortage within the production sector and the group of workers who are eager to roll up their sleeves. Together, Secrid and Cedris developed a whitepaper for companies in the manufacturing industry with concrete steps to involve sheltered workshops in the production process – on the way to a better utilised and more inclusive labour market.

For 15 years, Secrid has had its Cardprotector and wallets assembled by people with a distance to the labour market, who carry out work in the sheltered workshops. The campaign film 'Valuing capabilities' shows and lets people feel the power of this collaboration, which is central to Secrid's business operations, brand identity and success.

Thanks in part to them, we have built an international company based on our values: creating good jobs, respecting people and the environment, and making quality products.

Sustainable win-win

A gathering for entrepreneurs and companies within the manufacturing industry served as the kickoff for the campaign last week, focusing on the value of labour participation. Among others, Mohamed el Mokaddem (chairman of industry organization Cedris), Cees Oudshoorn (chairman of Nederland Onderneemt Maatschappelijk (VNO-NCW and MKB)), and Cathelijn Peters (Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment) highlighted in a panel discussion how we can build bridges together to put labour participation high on the agenda, and inspire each other to consciously choose collaboration with social development companies. The panel unanimously agreed that this is a sustainable win-win for both businesses and society, while simultaneously closing the gap in the labour market.

Marianne van Sasse van Ysselt, Founder of Secrid: "We work with sheltered workshops because it's a logical choice for us. They have the best people for this work in the Netherlands. Thanks in part to them, we have built an international company based on our values: creating good jobs, respecting people and the environment, and making quality products. We see it as our mission to do this well and share our experiences, hoping to inspire others in the process."

Co-creating solutions

To better utilise available workers with disabilities, good solutions are needed, and companies especially need to create these. Using the knowledge and experience of sheltered workshops, Secrid has (re)designed its products, processes, and employee training to align with the working methods of the workshop teams. The company removed unnecessarily difficult elements from its designs, developed ergonomic tools such as thumb-press equipment, and designed intuitive machines for employees assembling and engraving cardholders – often hundreds at a time. Currently, Secrid employs 152 workers from DZB (Leiden), Spaarne Werkt (Cruquius) and Werkse! (Delft) who work on its products.

Mohamed el Mokaddem, chairman of Cedris: "What we see here is business, not charity. Secrid demonstrates a good example of how companies and sheltered workshops can join forces to have specialised work carried out for quality (local) production work, even if that requires necessary process adjustments. The collaboration with the sheltered workshops here is an absolute win-win."

Whitepaper

As of today, the whitepaper is available on the website, enabling companies in the manufacturing industry to initiate the same method of collaboration. In this, Secrid and Cedris offer tools and tangible examples of which adjustments in business operations and production processes can benefit people, society, and companies.

#ValuingCapabilities