We notice hundreds of things about our colleagues and people around us – their gender, their personality, their skills, their strengths but we might not notice their depression, or their back pain, or their migraines.

"According to the WHO World Report on Disability, 15 per cent of the world’s population, or more than 1 billion people, are living with disability.  As COVID-19 continues to have wide-reaching impacts across the globe, persons with disabilities are uniquely impacted by the pandemic, including health, education, and transport considerations. And that includes all the people that are affected with less visible disabilities related to mental health and wellbeing in the current context. Our efforts to engage, develop and make adjustments in the way we work and to our workplaces to support our employees with both visible and invisible disabilities are more relevant than ever in these challenging times." Margot Slattery, Chief Diversity Officer 

Sodexo’s ongoing commitment is that by 2025, 100% of our workforce will have access to initiatives supporting the inclusion of people with disabilities. This means that each country where Sodexo operates will have:

As of today, we have policies in countries representing 89% of our workforce. 

In celebrating the United Nations International Day of Persons with Disabilities on December 3 2020, Sodexo has focused on raising awareness on disabilities through the initiative: Not all disabilities are visible.

Report: A day without explanation - the future of disability inclusion

Visual of report cover: A day without explanation - the future of disability inclusionSodexo has published a report of the findings of a survey into the lived experience of employees and customers with disabilities. 

The report, ‘A day without explanation: the future of disability inclusion?’, is the result of a survey carried out by Sodexo and PurpleSpace, the professional network hub for disabled employees. 

Nearly 900 people from the PurpleSpace network, partner organisations, Sodexo and its external communities responded to the survey, which aimed to help Sodexo understand how to better support employees and customers with disabilities.

A day without explanation: the future of disability inclusion is available to download on the UK Sodexo website

Purple Light Up global broadcast

Sodexo will be participating in PurpleSpace’s #PurpleLightUp on 3 December; a 24 hour global broadcast with webinars, interviews and panel discussions to spark conversations about disability inclusion worldwide. 

The Purple Space global broadcast will take place over 24 hours on 3 December. 

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Samsui-Sodexo train and place program: