“Inclusion and diversity are not philanthropy"

European Diversity Month started today with a launch event at the European Commission.

AFRY’s CEO Jonas Gustavsson was one of the speakers and was invited to talk about Immigrated Competence – a successful coaching and matching programme used to recruit recently arrived engineers.

European Diversity Month is an initiative run by the European Commission through the EU Diversity Charter network and its members. The initiative aims to support the European Commission’s long-term goal of combating discrimination and promoting diversity and inclusion in European workplaces.

“Inclusion and diversity are not about philanthropy for us. They’re about ensuring that we have employees with different perspectives and backgrounds, because we know that it fosters creativity and creates a dynamic workplace. It is a foundation of our corporate culture,” said Jonas Gustavsson, President and CEO of AFRY.

During the launch event, decision-makers, business leaders and others gathered to share experiences and lessons learned. Speakers included Helena Dalli, European Commissioner for Equality, and Madeleine de Cock Buning, vice president of Netflix. AFRY’s CEO Jonas Gustavsson spoke about Immigrated Competence as a coaching and matching programme used to recruit recently arrived engineers to the company. To date, more than 350 people have been employed through the programme.

AFRY has been involved in the EU Diversity Charter network since 2020 and recently Amir Nazari, Inclusion & Diversity Manager at AFRY, was also elected to the board.

“I want to contribute with my experience. I know how difficult it is to enter the Swedish labour market as an engineer with a foreign background. By participating in the Diversity Charter, companies can help promote equality in the workplace and more inclusion and diversity in the business world,” said Nazari.

Watch the European Diversity Month launch event and find out more about Diversity Charter Sweden.