A large manufacturing company tackling labour shortages with a strategic inclusion programme

Falcon Farms in Colombia integrates employees with disabilities into flower export operations. By 2024, 100+ workers with disabilities received equal pay, with 80 having hearing impairments.

Falcon Farms Flores Isabelita, a Colombian flower export company with headquarters in Bogotá, Medellin, and Ecuador, implemented an employability strategy in 2016 aimed at integrating individuals with disabilities into its workforce. The company established a training centre to enhance their skills, assigned tasks based on individual capabilities, and provided equal pay along with performance-based bonuses. By mid-2024 the company had employed over 100 individuals with disabilities, including 80 with hearing impairments and 17 with intellectual disabilities.

Problems Targeted

Companies in need of employees often overlook the possibility of integrating people with disabilities.

Solution, Innovation and Impact

Falcon Farms Flores Isabelita, a Colombian multinational in the floriculture sector, was founded in 2003 and specializes in exporting flower bouquets. To address its labour needs, in 2016 the company launched an employability strategy – Tan diversos como las florees (‘As diverse as flowers’) – that focuses on integrating individuals with disabilities into its workforce. To facilitate this initiative, the company established a dedicated training centre offering both technical and social skills development for employees with disabilities. Employees are assigned tasks based on their individual capabilities, performing roles such as flower preparation, bouquet assembly, machine handling, and administrative work. The company ensures equal remuneration and offers performance-based variable pay to all employees, irrespective of their abilities. Implementation of the programme began in 2016 with the recruitment of seven individuals with hearing disabilities. Over the years, this number has grown to over 250, with 80 individuals with hearing disabilities employed by 2024. In 2021 the company hired 13 individuals with intellectual disabilities, and by 2024 that number has grown to 17. Today, the company employs approximately 100 individuals with disabilities, with an average length of service exceeding three years.

Funding, Outlook and Transferability

The project is entirely funded by Falcon Farms Flores Isabelita, which allocates an annual investment of $631,000 for salaries and benefits, $60,000 for mobilization costs, $5,000 for infrastructure, and $12,000 for interpretation services. The company benefits from tax incentives for employing individuals with disabilities. Additionally, the company is implementing this model in its operations in Ecuador. (Zero Project Awardee 2025)

Pictures

By mid-2024 Falcon Farms Flores Isabelita had employed over 100 people with disabilities.

By mid-2024 Falcon Farms Flores Isabelita had employed over 100 people with disabilities.

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