Over the past year, Methanex has provided opportunities for young people with disabilities to gain work experience at our facilities in Chile.

To provide these opportunities, Methanex partnered with the Centro de Capacitación Laboral León Humberto Seguel – an organization with more than 23 years of experience providing training and support to young people with disabilities. Youth learn work skills at the Centre, and can now put these into practice at Methanex’s plant under the supervision of Methanex employees.

Elizabeth Ulloa, Director of the Centre, welcomed the initiative. “Having the support of Methanex, which is one of the largest companies in the region, is an important leap forward…the youngsters feel valued and have a real opportunity for social reinsertion,” she said.

Last year, two students from the Centre worked at Methanex for three months. They took responsibility for administrative duties including distributing mail, scanning documents and preparing conference rooms. Iván Zuvic, one of the students who worked with Methanex, said “I felt encouraged, because I had never had the chance to practice in a place like this. I expect to learn as much as possible.”

Methanex’s initative has been recognized by the National Service for Disability, and other local companies are considering how they could provide comparable opportunities to people with different abilities.

Methanex Chile is making other efforts to celebrate inclusive practices. Staff are learning about the importance of inclusion and taking actions to be more inclusive, such as ensuring that sign language translation is included in videos shared with the community.

Plant Manager Boris Vukasovic says that these initiatives have a high social impact. “As a company, it’s our duty to fully include persons with different abilities into society. It’s been a very good practice for us to do our bit.”

The next student will begin working at Methanex in April 2016.