Penticton, B.C. company encourages other employers to hire inclusively too | 24CA News
With an ongoing labour scarcity throughout B.C., a Penticton firm is encouraging different employers to rent inclusively simply as they’ve.
Lynden Hicks and Taylor Shea are each mannequin staff at Brutus Truck Bodies. The pair who each stay with disabilities have been employed by the corporate just a few years in the past.
“I see the struggle that every company has right now with hiring people and sometimes maybe we’re just not looking in the right spot,” mentioned Brutus Truck Bodies’ Fabrication supervisor James Bernique.
“When I discovered these two, nicely truly Lynden began fairly some time in the past as a part-time job, after which I met Taylor on the bowling workforce. It simply clicked that possibly we might discover a spot for them right here.
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Hicks started serving to out across the firm part-time, and now operates the corporate’s band noticed full-time.
“When I first started here, I was the cleanup man and then I got hired on — a full-time job from James and now I am working full time on the saw,” mentioned Hicks.
“I was quite nervous when I first started but after a while, I got the hang of it and I’ve gotten to know all the guys around the shop. So, it’s really good.”
Meanwhile, Shea does custodial work and numerous different duties across the manufacturing plant.
“Cleaning, garbages, I do a bit of everything around here. Making parts, notching, I do a bit of everything around here, almost everything of course,” mentioned Shea.
“Back in 2017 [my boss and I] were on the same team for bowling, and he gave me this job for a good reason, to show me what I got.”
According to the corporate, each staff have excelled of their positions.
“They both when they first started were very, very shy individuals who wouldn’t talk to anyone. They didn’t know their place in life. It’s like most people until we find our stuff, it’s a scary world out there,” mentioned Bernique.
“But now they’re just wonderful. There isn’t a person around here that doesn’t love them or include them in everything. They laugh with us all the time, it’s just a great crew to have, great people, great kids.”
For many individuals residing with disabilities, it may be laborious to search out employment.
Penticton and District Society for Community Living (PDSCL) gives companies that help folks with disabilities by way of discovering jobs and corporations, like Brutus, by way of hiring inclusively.
“The individuals that we support at Penticton and District Society for Community Living, to have them in your workplace gives purpose to people in their lives and that is so important. Their skill set is fantastic. And it’s a resource in the community that we encourage all employers to look at,” mentioned PDSCL Day Services program coordinator Kathleen Estabrooks.
“It’s challenging for anybody to find work. If your social skills are not, you know, we so much emphasis is placed on a job interview. Sometimes it gets missed the potential of the employee through a job interview. There’s so much potential with the people that we support.”
Bernique echoed that different corporations ought to be doing the identical.
“First thing you have to do at any company is have patience and teaching. It might take a little extra but you get paid for it in the end. Because they’ve been here every day, they try their hardest, all they want to do is work just like everyone else,” mentioned
“You got have to find the right niche in life, you got to find the right thing for everyone and once they have it you will be so happy. These kids make me so proud.”
He went on to say that as the corporate grows, it would proceed to rent inclusively.
“It was only nine of us, now I think we’re up to 60, 70 people, we have six different plants,” mentioned Bernique. “We just keep growing and we’re going to look for more again diverse hires.”
Meanwhile, PDSCL plans to arrange two tables on the upcoming job honest in Penticton as a chance for employers to collect extra details about the society’s companies.
“We will have both a table for folks looking for work in the community and also a table with our Supportive Employment Program for employers who are looking for an opportunity like this,” mentioned Estabrooks.
“Any employee wanting to explore this opportunity more, come down and see. We’ll have a table and there will be people there who want to talk about their experiences.”
The job honest is occurring on the Penticton Trade and Convention Centre on March 9, from 10 a.m. to five p.m.
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