Emma at Work is a non-profit employment agency for young people with disabilities. Emma at Work mediates these young people to a holiday job, side job or permanent workplace. The aim is for these young people to gain work experience to increase their chances of an (financially) independent life later in life. Emma at Work shows that young people with disabilities can be just as valuable to the labour market as their healthy peers.
About our partnership with Emma at Work
Ever since Fruitful Office was founded, we have been working with young people placed with us through Emma at Work. These young people work with us in production and help out during fruit quality control. Thanks to our customers, we have already been able to help more than 10 young people with a chronic illness or physical disability find a job! Read an article published in April 2016 about one of our Emma at Work employees Timothy Falorni (pictured) here.
Help young people with disabilities get jobs!
The more fruit we get to deliver to companies, the more jobs we can create. By ordering fruit from Fruitful Office, you not only contribute to a healthy workplace, but also support our young people at Emma at Work.
Winner Okura – Emma at Work award!
In 2013, Fruitful Office won the Okura – Emma at Work Award. This award is presented annually to a company that has shown that young people with a chronic illness or physical disability can be very well integrated into the business process. The award, an initiative of Hotel Okura and Emma at Work, was presented to Fruitful Office by Freek de Jonge.
Sebastian Brokmann, co-founder of Fruitful Office: “Our first employee Gwensly Ricardo came through Emma at Work when we had actually just started business. It was a real joy to work with him and – at a time when we had nothing – he put more than 100 per cent effort into getting Fruitful Office off the ground. Today, Gwensly is still working there and we have a total of ten young people working for us through Emma at Work. It is partly thanks to the great commitment of many young people from Emma at Work that Fruitful Office has become a success. We hope to work with many more motivated young people in the future as they are very valuable to our company.”
According to the jury, Fruitful Office deserves the award because the company “had the guts to start with a workforce largely made up of people distant from the labour market”. After the announcement of the winner, a workshop took place in Hotel Okura’s cooking studio. Wouter Bruggink and Annabel Bausch, both young people from Emma at Work who gained work experience in Hotel Okura’s kitchen, reinforced the kitchen team and showed guests how various dishes are prepared.
