Employees with disabilities at Eckerle Automotive Romania
At our factory in Cluj-Napoca, in this moment we have the opportunity to work with 61 people with disabilities who show us daily how persevering and hardworking they are, but this is not something new for our team.
Employees with disabilities are part of the Eckerle family!
We believe in equality and diversity.
Everyone is treated with respect and friendship in our community!
They are pushing their limits and we are always with them! Despite their disabilities, our employees always show professionalism and perseverance. From the schooling period, they stand out due to the quality of the operations they perform and remain equally motivated even after its completion. With the help and understanding of those around them, they prove to be employees of hope who do not disappoint.
Because we believe in every employee, we helped these colleagues in 2018 to obtain a record for their community, namely “the largest number of employees with hearing impairments in a company in Romania“ (92 employees)
How it all started…
In 2010, Costel Apastinei came to Eckerle on the recommendation of the “Motivation” foundation. After a while, liking the work environment and the team, he decided to call his brother and some close friends to join the company. Being vice-president (2013-2018) and president (2018-2020) of the Association of Deaf Young People in Romania, Costel has always encouraged people with disabilities to join our collective through videos posted on his social media networks.
Over time, through the videos posted and the work with the Association, Costel has managed to gather a real community within Eckerle that exceeds the national average of 20 – 40 people with disabilities in a company.
Costel wants as many people as possible from his community to join us and with the help of Eckerle he hopes to surpass his own record set in 2018.
How it is going now…
Currently, 61 people with hearing impairments work in Eckerle, out of which 57 direct employees and 4 indirect employees in the shopfloor.
Direct employees:
- 35 – manual assembly;
- 6 – automated production line operator (visual inspection);
- 7 – cutting machines operators;
- 9 – adjusters.
Indirect employees shopfloor:
- 4 – raw materials transporters
But for us, they are more than just some employees. They are fierce athletes and real team players Good friends we can count on. And many more things … But most importantly: They have been, are and will always be a part of the Eckerle family, and they will always be welcomed here!
