Non-profit commitments
Adecco's subsidiaries across the world run a wide range of non-profit projects and activities. Our CR Report 2008 provides an overview of more than 40 select programmes and partnerships which serve communities (see pages 52-55). Most of these inititatives create shared value in the sense that they may also have a positive impact on our business.
Disaster response – Hurricane Katrina, 2005, USA
Adecco USA played a critical role in helping workers displaced by Hurricane Katrina to find new positions. Following the 2005 disaster, reports indicated that around 400,000 jobs might have been lost. Adecco immediately launched a company-wide initiative. One of the efforts was placing Adecco’s “mobile career centres” in evacuation shelters across the Southern states. These centres included job-searching facilities, and offered practical help for men and women anxious to get back on their feet and back to work. Adecco also provided food, clothing and transport to job sites, and worked with many of our clients throughout the region to involve them in the initiative and help those worst affected. This hands-on approach helped get more than 500 evacuees into employment and on track to rebuilding their lives.
Disaster response – tsunami catastrophe, 2004/2005, Asia
Since the tsunami catastrophe, Adecco donated over EUR 800,000 and assigned its own personnel to allocate and supervise projects funded by the company. The relief efforts are bearing fruit, and people are being helped to rebuild their lives. Adecco’s grants were primarily for specific school and housing projects in three districts of Banda Aceh, Indonesia, as well as for the opening of employment service centres in Banda Aceh, fully equipped with IT, assessment and training software in the local language, and designed to improve employment prospects for local people.