Elke Wilgmann: "We want to actively promote diversity".

The Corona pandemic has led to a sharp increase in long-term unemployment in Austria. According to the AMS, every fourth unemployed person was long-term unemployed at the end of October. Older people and people with health restrictions are particularly affected. And even for young people, career orientation has not become easier in times of the pandemic. BILLA wanted to target these job seekers in this year's current employer branding campaign. However, the style of the two-part campaign with statements such as "With a disability you are not needed" was in part sharply criticised. BILLA CEO Elke Wilgmann explains how the grocer deals with this and the intentions behind the campaign. 

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Ms Wilgmann, how do you deal with the widespread criticism of this campaign?  

Elke Wilgmann (EW): With a sincere apology. With the first part of our campaign, we wanted to address prejudices in the labour market, to provoke thought in a thoroughly provocative advertising manner. But in doing so, we hurt people with disabilities and their relatives. We did not want to do that at any point and we apologise for that. 

What consequences have you drawn and what lessons have you learned? 

EW: We immediately brought forward the second part of the campaign "The Yellow of the Job" and dissolved the provocative statements. In the particularly criticised case by emphasizing on the fact that people with disabilities are needed and are highly welcome as part of our team. And we had extensive personal discussions with the Austrian Council for People with Disabilities and the organisation "BIZEPS - Centre for Self-Determined Living". One of the lessons we have learned is to involve people with disabilities and their representatives in such campaigns from the very beginning. 

Let's go back to the beginning - what led BILLA to address precisely these target groups with an employee campaign? 

EW: We focus on diversity among our employees and actively promote it. Our large team reflects the diversity of our customers, and we are very proud of that. And we explicitly reject baseless prejudices, so we deliberately approached job seekers from these target groups to get them to apply to us. And all the people you see in the campaign are BILLA colleagues who are committed to this diversity. For example, our disability representative on a poster. 

How many employees with disabilities does BILLA actually employ?   

EW: We now have 660 colleagues with various disabilities, such as learning difficulties or chronic illnesses, working in the head office, our stores, in the online shop and in logistics. And we want to increase this number in the future. In our job advertisements, we actively address people with disabilities, and this year alone we have already taken on more than 100. Among them are also numerous apprentices, which means that we are now training 220 integrative apprentices. We cooperate with many organisations. In addition, our employment website is certified barrier-free, so we ensure that all job seekers can apply online and that they have all the necessary information at their disposal. 

You have also addressed older applicants with your campaign ... 

EW: ... because that is one of the most stupid prejudices. One third of our more than 30,000 employees are older colleagues. With their know-how, experience and consistency, they are a supporting pillar of our company. Since last year, we have been able to recruit more than 1,500 older employees. And we are happy about every application - even from lateral entrants. 

You also address career opportunities for young people in the campaign - what does BILLA have to offer? 

EW: Especially in the uncertainty of the pandemic, a career perspective for young people. Our current 1,700 apprentices are trained in 10 apprenticeship trades. With attractive performance bonuses for good performance at vocational school and on completion of the apprenticeship. BILLA finances a second apprenticeship qualification for office clerks, which can be completed in a short time, for particularly committed apprentices. We also offer apprenticeships with Matura. And after completing the apprenticeship, the door is wide open for various specialist careers or further training to become a manager with the junior management programme for all interested parties, and many employees take advantage of this opportunity. 

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The article also appeared in the daily newspaper KURIER on 7.12.2021.