About Sutherland Global Services IT-MSP company in New York, United States
Impact hiring is not a short-term commitment for Sutherland — we are in it for the long haul. Sutherland and our employees are dedicated to improving the lives of the most vulnerable among us changing the direction of peoples lives and positively impacting individuals their families and their communities for decades perhaps even generations.
In Colombia our employees work with non-profits non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and others to reach those who live in extreme poverty — some of them in long-corrupt violent communities with little access to clean water. We train and hire these young people from remote communities as interns offering them a peaceful path to a better life.
In Rochester New York where a growing percentage of Sutherlands workforce is comprised of single parents our employees donate thousands of volunteer hours a year. In addition through our work with Champion Academy a regional non-profit we conduct ongoing classroom checkups in public schools helping young people living in poverty increase their grade point average including one who went from a 0.7 to a 3.5 GPA in six months.
Paula Heiler Social Impact Lead for Sutherland Rochester remembers the young man whose name is Kenny well. She met him during her first year of volunteering with Champion Academy.
’He was a troubled kid and got kicked out of Champion Academy’ she says. ’He was out on the streets. Six months later he came back and went from a 0.7 GPA to a 3.5. We get to experience his success with him. Volunteering really makes a difference. Your heart is in it.
In the Philippines the company trains and hires individuals living in rural poverty including those who live in remote areas far removed from major metropolitan cities such as Manila. Many of Sutherland Philippines employees live and work in highly impoverished areas across the country.
Catherine Salceda Ileto Social Impact Lead for Sutherland Philippines and others have been expanding their outreach to those who live in extremely isolated communities in this nation of more than 7600 islands. They travel hours by car by boat and by foot to reach and teach the rural poor in large part because it helps their own emotional and spiritual wellness. It makes them feel grateful.
An example of this is an English language proficiency program that Sutherland supports. Cathy says that more than 30 Sutherland employees volunteered to mentor 30 disadvantaged junior high school students over the four-week program. By the end the volunteers were working so closely with the students that they felt mixed emotions when the students graduated from the program.
Bernice Garcia Villaran Human Resources Head for Sutherland Philippines volunteers for the companys Social Impact program. She says numerous Sutherland employees volunteer with Resources for the Blind Inc. Philippines and a program called Jobs for People With Visual Impairment. As part of the program Sutherland employees assist blind and visually impaired workers whose job options would otherwise be extremely limited.
Bernice also makes a point of working with the rural poor across the Philippines. She recently drove 10 hours and hiked another 3 hours to reach indigenous tribes who need support.
’I want to be there’ she says. ’I want to give back to the community.’
Demonstrations of Sutherlands commitment can be found in many communities where we live and work.
In Jamaica where a large percentage of our workforce represents impact workers our employees train and hire young people who grew up in dire poverty with little-to-no education and who otherwise might be lured into a life of crime and violence.
Sutherland Jamaica supports skills training for thousands of individuals through multiple Digital Empowerment Centers (DECs). We have also gone a step further hiring more than 200 of the centers graduates to work in one-year apprenticeships with our company. Many of these apprentices many of whom are young single mothers are now permanent employees with Sutherland work for other companies or organizations or are studying full-time to earn their university degree.
In India where the company has an annual goal of 70000 volunteer hours Sutherland trains and hires disabled women the blind and visually impaired and ’extremely disadvantaged’ individuals including young people who grew up below the poverty line with little access to education technical training and other skills such as English language proficiency.
For years Sutherland India has focused on the Millennium Development Goals (now known as Sustainable Development Goals) taking on environmental sustainability both internally and externally in the wider community with efforts focused on cleaning waterways and planting trees for soil and forests. Employees in India are now shifting their attention to youth unemployment - they are carefully implementing programs that target youth who live in poverty with opportunities to be upskilled and employed.
Sutherlands Country Head for India Proneet Sharma said the company recently sponsored 10 young women from poor remote tribal areas for training so that they could learn to become optical technicians.
Proneet knows that the company can make an even bigger impact: ’We are committed to participating in our communities in a meaningful way with a long-term impact.’
In the Middle East and Europe Sutherland works with multiple private-sector partners to empower women. Throughout the region women are educated but for cultural reasons they rarely work and if they do they rarely work outside the home.
This is starting to change and Sutherland is at the forefront of this shift.
Sutherland is working with a financial institution client for example to hire women who can work both inside and outside the home. In the United Arab Emirates (UAE) specifically Sutherland has facilitated the hiring of 100 Emirati women by providing customer service and technical training.
’Its a method of changing the cultural mindset’ said Shankar Krishnan Human Resources Head in the UAE. ’We are pioneers in initiating this concept.’
The empowerment of women is also a priority area for the Sutherland team in Bulgaria. Sutherland employees in Sofia Bulgaria recently participated in a panel discussion on gender parity and multiple related topics including human rights issues to celebrate International Women#39;s Day.
Through our talent with the finest approach of hiring we have enabled thousands of our employees around the world to work from home through virtual collaboration tools which reduces carbon emission through commuting. Combined with every day actions of our employees to reduce possible carbon foot print we remain Sutherland Strong and committed to a healthy and happier future.
In May 2019 Sutherland won the Microsoft Award for Leadership in Impact Sourcing. We were recognized for our leadership in deliberately hiring individuals from marginalized or vulnerable situations by eliminating barriers to employment and empowering individuals through our impact sourcing program.
Microsofts Tim Hopper one of the founding members of the Global Impact Sourcing Coalition says Sutherland was the first Microsoft supplier to jump at the opportunity of supporting Microsoft skills training through Digital Empowerment Centers in the communities where it works. The DECs started in Chennai India with Philippines and Jamaica being added after and now DECs are offered in almost every Sutherland community.
Sutherlands Social Impact and Impact Hiring program is good for our employees our customers our communities our business and the world. Sutherland has also taken the lead in being a founding member of the Global Impact Sourcing Coalition (GISC) a non-profit initiative committed to advancing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 8 — promoting sustained inclusive and sustainable economic growth full and productive employment and decent work for all — by building more inclusive global supply chains.
GISC Project Director Sara Enright says procurement and sourcing teams are looking to move beyond basic social compliance. They want to work with suppliers who share their companies values they want to know that their spending is benefitting the broader community and they feel impact sourcing will make their companies their supplier companies and individuals and communities all over the world stronger.
Impact sourcing is becoming increasingly important for multinationals. Many large multinationals already prioritize the use of minority and women-owned business enterprise (MWBE) suppliers and Enright says they will likely start prioritizing impact-sourcing suppliers in the very near future.
Sutherland is proud to say that our pool of employees reflect our target populations - including young people who live in poverty single mothers and the blind and individuals who are blind and visually impaired deaf or are on the autism spectrum - and the global communities in which we work. Every day Sutherland exposes invests and makes impact hires. Our employees promote and encourage impact hiring with customers prospective customers suppliers partners non-profits NGOs government agencies and more improving lives and expanding opportunities for all.
