Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies in Switzerland recently commenced a new partnership with Capacity. The new collaboration was kicked off by being part of the new Access Program. A program Capacity launched to effectively help highly skilled migrants and refugees navigate the Swiss job market.
Founded in 2015 as a creative solution to long-term refugee and migrant unemployment, Capacity is a start-up and talent incubator for people from refugee and migrant backgrounds who would like to launch a business or socio-cultural initiative in Switzerland. Capacity’s work is contributing to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, particularly with regards to reducing inequalities and, as such, fully aligned with Johnson & Johnson ambitions and Credo values.
Participants had the opportunity to attend career workshops which were complemented by one-to-one coaching sessions with Johnson & Johnson volunteers. Both program participants and volunteers said this was an enriching, enhancing, and rewarding experience.
At Johnson & Johnson, we see giving back as vital for our communities and living our Credo as well as key to growth and a healthy career. Emelie Dorlin, Sr. Manager Community Impact Switzerland says, “participating in employee volunteering programs, such as 'Talent for Good,' is a terrific opportunity to give back by supporting a local NGO while developing personally and professionally.”
For this collaboration, some of our Johnson & Johnson volunteers acted as Program advisors who supported Capacity in developing the program content. Others contributed as Talent Coaches who coached the program participants.
Katarina Grunwald, Swiss Campus Paralegal, was one of the Talent Coaches. She says: "I share the views of Capacity. Harnessing the vast and dynamic skill set of migrants and refugees will further the innovation and growth of the Swiss economy. On the other hand, I wanted to help the participants restore their sense of self-worth, identity and dignity."
Vlassis Nikolaidis, HR Leader Supply Chain Deliver EMEA, said he was motivated to volunteer as a Program Advisor so he could give back to the community, and utilize his skills for a good cause, especially since he is a foreigner, too.
Debayan Biswas, HR Leader Global Commercial Strategy & Janssen Business Development, took part in the Program as a Program Advisor. He says this experience "helped me build more empathy towards migrants and refugees who leave everything in their homeland to set themselves up from scratch in a new place. It made me realize how they could turn their unique strengths to stand out amongst the crowd."
Alain Kasai, a Talent Acquisition Partner, said that from a personal growth perspective, he learnt "to better explain things from his point of view as a recruiter and start to understand the difficulties that people can sometimes encounter during their job search or application."
Feedback from the program participants was incredibly positive! They said they gained new tools, knowledge, and skills to help them with future job searches and positioning in the Swiss labor market. They felt this experience enabled them to apply confidently for new jobs. So far, five of the program participants managed to secure employment, and they say the Access Program helped them a lot along the process.
Click here to learn more about each of the program participants.
Based on our Credo and beliefs that everyone deserves the same opportunity to succeed, we look forward to continuing our collaboration with Capacity and to supporting them in their mission to help refugees and migrants integrate in Switzerland.