When we started Come to Work five years ago, we asked Canadians with sight loss to trust us. Knowing the barriers of entry into the workplace and the stigmas attached to it, we wanted to provide guidance and confidence to potential workers just as capable as those without sight loss. And we asked employers to trust us as well. That we could provide them the types of workers they were looking for to diversify their workplaces and educate them on how accessibility isn’t as hard as they might think.
CNIB has worked extremely hard to make Come to Work one of the most important job-placement programs in the country. And last week, we were able to deliver that progress to our community and stakeholders, as members of our talent pool and employer partners joined together in our Toronto Community Hub for a program update.
Since 2018, we are proud to say that over 1,200 Canadians have joined our Talent Pool. This includes everyone from young adults just starting out in their employment journeys to experienced workers who need a new start. On the employer side, more than 100 companies have signed up to be partners, from large to small, private to public, helping hundreds of Canadians find employment. Together, we’ve been successful on accomplishing hundreds of job placements.
This is because technological advances have made it easier than ever to hire these candidates – candidates who want to work and will commit for the long haul. The business objective is clear: an employer can discover untapped talent and not only fulfill diversity and inclusion goals, but more importantly, sustain and grow their business culture and objectives.
We’re not just talking about accessibility; we’re making it happen and making it easier. We’re not just advocating to give these capable Canadians a chance, we’re acting and showing the results.
We’ve seen what we’ve become for the last five years and we have goals for the next five: growing our talent pool to 5,000 and our employer partners to 500.
And we know there’s much more to do. Over the last few months, we have consulted with our Talent Pool members on their experiences and how to make it better and have launched a refreshed website to make it easier than ever to get involved.
We’ve heard from our participants and the CNIB community at-large and the message is clear: attitude is everything when it comes to building barrier-free workplaces and breaking down stigmas.
We will continue to advocate on behalf of our participants to create more accessible workplaces across the country. And of course, pushing Come to Work as a mentorship opportunity for those who want to do more for their communities and sense of service.
We know the work ahead of us, but we’re also asking for your help by spreading the world. Tell your friends, family, colleagues, business connections and others about your success and share www.cometowork.ca far and wide.
If you know someone dealing with sight loss and they want to work, we’ll be there, every step of the way. If you know an employer who wants to see what’s out there, find untapped potential and actually make their workplace more accessible, diverse and productive, tell them there’s a great way to do so. Whether it’s a potential talent pool member or employer, we’re asking the same thing: join this proven program and let’s build the way forward together.
Thomas J. Simpson, Vice President, CNIB Voice & Executive Director Come to Work