LR.in Prettner, autArK-GF Jesse: 175 people with disabilities in the primary labor market – 151 companies on board – four million euros from the state per year
Klagenfurt (OTS/LPD) – The year is 2004: two clients, two companies. No more pocket money, just wages for the first time. That was the starting signal for the Opportunities Forum, an Austria-wide pioneering model that integrated people with disabilities into the primary labor market for a fee. Today, 20 years later, possible employment projects for people with disabilities are being intensively discussed in Austria… “In Carinthia we have now brought 175 people into employment through the Opportunities Forum. 151 companies are on board. With autArK as a supporting association, we give people new perspectives, self-determination and self-confidence with their first self-earned money,” explained State Councilor Beate Prettner today at the press conference on the 20th anniversary of the OpportunitiesForum. The ChancesForum, which already exists in three models – ChancesForum classic, ChancesForm light, ChancesForum reha – is financed entirely by the state. “We pay around four million euros per year for the employment model. It makes sense and is therefore perfectly invested four million. Because employment with your own income means participation in social life, means professional integration and, above all, means self-determination,” Prettner is convinced.
“As the initiator of the Carinthian state stage plan for the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, improved and fair work opportunities for people with disabilities are important to me. Integrating people with disabilities into the general labor market is one of the central tasks and challenges in the area of equal opportunities,” says Prettner. In fact, professional integration is a topic that has preoccupied Austria for years “and is unfortunately being developed only slowly. In Carinthia, however, we took courageous and yes, visionary steps with the then Social Affairs Councilor Gaby Schaunig – so that we have been considered a pioneer in this area for years,” said LR.in Prettner.
As autArK managing director Andreas Jesse informed, the current 175 employees are supported by 23 personal assistants and 238 mentors. “Despite various skepticism in the background, we courageously took this new path to employing people with disabilities 20 years ago. And we have continuously developed it further,” emphasized Jesse. “The effort was worth it.”
The city of Villach was there without skepticism right from the start. Vice Mayor Gerda Sandriesser is convinced: “The Opportunities Forum is a showcase project for how inclusion can be practiced. The city of Villach is committed to limitless diversity. This diversity can also be seen at the Opportunities Forum: It is an important and great institution so that people with disabilities get a real chance in the job market.
One of these people is Lukas Kaimer. And he is not “just anyone”, but rather he was the first to find employment in the primary labor market 20 years ago through the Opportunities Forum. “I was able to work in Alexandra Schmidt-Bearzi’s library. That was wonderful, we even wrote a book together, ‘Lukas, the Librarian’.” Lukas Kaimer then worked in the library in Landskron for seven years, and now he works as an assistant cook at the kindergarten meeting. “I think the work is really cool.” Addendum: “And I’m proud that I’m a ChanceForum veteran.”
Beate Prettner once again appealed to companies to be open to people with disabilities: “It’s not a handout, you get something in return. Because every person has their strengths.” More and more labor market experts are now drawing attention to this important “resource”: employment models for people with disabilities can also counteract the labor shortage. There are around 28,000 people with disabilities in Austria in day and employment structures where they only receive pocket money instead of a regular salary.
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