Last week, the Chile Productivity Pact made the official presentation of its report “An approach to the current panorama of labor inclusion in the Metropolitan Region of Chile.” The activity featured welcoming remarks from the representative of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) in Chile, Yolanda Martínez, the president of the Descúbreme Foundation, Catalina Saieh and the Seremi del Trabajo y Previsión Social de la Región Metropolitana, Denisse Madrid .
The lack of articulation between the social actors that make up the ecosystem of labor inclusion in the country is one of the main findings of the Report developed by the Chile Productivity Pact Program. Ingrid Rojas, manager of the initiative explained that we seek to “implement a collaborative labor inclusion model to promote the participation of persons with disabilities in the labor market. To do this, we work in a coordinated way with the main public and private actors, considering the path traveled and generating a participatory model, socialized and agreed by all sectors ”.
In this regard, Yolanda Martínez, the IDB representative in Chile, explained that “there is no better public policy than one that is done in an open and collaborative way with a very solid base of indicators of what is to be achieved. Chile Productivity Pact is a good example. As IDB we seek to improve the quality of life of the people of Latin America and the Caribbean and we do it in different ways, financing is one of them, but the real magic happens when we are in a space like this, with government and society instances civil. What is generated from this diagnosis should always be an improvement ”.
According to the report’s findings, the different social actors are concerned about the gap in job training for people with disabilities, given that access to higher education is still scarce and even more so the completion of higher education. On the other hand, although there is a wide range in the offer of training in crafts, these are often not aligned with the demands of the open labor market. In this way, people with disabilities are often restricted from opting for better-paid positions with greater career prospects. “There are organizations that offer training programs in crafts, however, these are not always taught in their areas of interest or do not allow them access to income that improves their quality of life,” said Ingrid Rojas.
One element that stands out in the report is the fears and prejudices that employers have regarding the productivity and job performance of people with disabilities. This apprehension produces that work spaces that could be occupied by people with disabilities are restricted and companies are not open to hiring this group of the population.
