Telenor Welcomes First Participants in Its Open Mind Programme for Disabled People

Telenor welcomed the five participants in the first edition of its Open Mind programme for professional development and social inclusion of people with disabilities. They will have the chance to work on a specific project in the company for a period of two years and improve their competitiveness in the labour market.

Telenor’s Chief Executive Officer Stein-Erik Vellan, the Deputy Prime Minister and the Telenor Norway Open Mind Programme Director Ingrid Ihme participated in the official ceremony. An official guest of the event was the Norwegian Ambassador H.E. Guro Katharina VikØr.

„The Open Mind programme has a long history in Telenor Group which begаn 19 years ago in Norway where more than 200 people have completed it so far. We leveraged our know-how to implement the initiative in Sweden and Pakistan and I am very pleased to say that Bulgaria is the fourth country to launch the programme”, Mr. Vellan said. He noted that this long-term initiative is aimed at changing the overall attitude towards people with disabilities and showing that they are an integral part of our society. $I would like to call to all other employers to open their minds and doors for all the motivated candidates the labour market in the country has to offer,” Mr. Vellan added.

Participants in this year’s Open Mind programme will join the Process Management, Legal Affairs, Finance, Technology and Customer Care divisions. The new employees will work in Telenor’s open and accessible working environment, with remuneration package corresponding to the position. After successful completion of the programme, Telenor will provide permanent employment or support candidates for securing roles in the market place.

Telenor Bulgaria’s programme for people with disabilities will be held annually as part of the company’s long-term corporate responsibility strategy and under the Telenor Group Open Mind global initiative.

Telenor Bulgaria is a leading telecommunication company with 3.8 million active subscribers in Bulgaria. As of June-2015, the company’s services are available to 99.98% of Bulgaria’s population, covering over 99.50% of the country’s territory, and Telenor UMTS network covers 99.87% of the population. By November 4, 2014, the company operated under the GLOBUL brand. Since August 1, 2013, it has been a part of Telenor Group which operates in 13 countries in Europe and Asia and has over 189 million subscribers.