Endesa and the Adecco Foundation join forces in the Emergency for Employment project to help 10,000 families

• With the signature of Endesa CEO, José Bogas, and the president of the Adecco Foundation, Enrique Sánchez, the company becomes the Foundation's main supporter in its #EmergenciaPorElEmpleo project, which seeks to unite businesses to help find employment for 10,000 families who are at risk of exclusion due to the economic consequences of Covid-19.
• This donation and support from Endesa is part of the company's Public Responsibility Plan, which was presented at the beginning of the pandemic, is endowed with €25 million and is now in its second phase. After dealing with the country's health needs, the Plan is now focused on the economic emergency that is impacting, for the most part, on the most vulnerable groups and households with the greatest difficulties.
• The Covid-19 crisis has destroyed more than a million jobs, leaving many families, who were already on the verge of poverty before the pandemic, in a vulnerable situation where they are at risk of social exclusion. In fact, the number of households in which all members are unemployed has grown by 13% compared to last year and now stands at 1,148,800.

Endesa becomes the main supporter of the Adecco Foundation and its #EmergenciaPorElEmpleo project after representatives, Endesa CEO José Bogas, and the president of the Adecco Foundation, president of Adecco Spain and Regional Head Adecco Iberia, Italy, Eastern Europe & MENA, Enrique Sánchez, today signed the agreement that links them in this important fight against unemployment among the most vulnerable. An Adecco Foundation initiative that seeks to unite businesses in order to end the social and employment exclusion of 10,000 families affected by the economic consequences of the pandemic. With the finances and personnel contributed by Endesa (its employees will help in the project through different volunteer programmes), it is expected that this project will help almost 400 families that are having great difficulties in lifting themselves out of social exclusion.

A labour market badly damaged by Covid-19

The coronavirus has had a devastating impact on the labour market. The figures speak for themselves: after the state of alarm and the lockdown in the second quarter of the year, it was calculated that more than a million households (1,148,800) were in a situation where all their members were unemployed, 7% more than the previous quarter and 13% more than before the pandemic.

Under these circumstances, many people have lost their jobs. Specifically, Covid-19 has destroyed more than a million jobs (1,197,700 between the second quarter of 2019 and the second quarter of 2020) and the unemployment rate has climbed to 15.3%, the highest figure since 2018. Furthermore, that does not reflect reality in its entirety, because it does not include all those people protected by temporary workforce restructuring plans (ERTES).

In the case of the beneficiaries of the Adecco Foundation - people with disabilities, those over 45 years of age who are long-term unemployed, women with non-shared family responsibilities and/or victims of gender violence and other people at risk of exclusion - these difficulties are accentuated, insofar as their situation was already highly complicated. In fact, they took an average of 12 months to find a job, with support, and were especially exposed to long-term unemployment, the exhaustion of benefits and therefore social exclusion.

On the other hand, the 8th Report on Social Exclusion and Development in Spain, presented by the Foessa Foundation last year, estimated that there was a population of 6 million people in a vulnerable situation that could possible be definitively pushed into social exclusion in the face of unfavourable economic situations. The consequences of the health crisis are now making it even more likely that this dire prognosis could come true, raising social exclusion from 18% to 31%.

According to Enrique Sánchez: “At times like this, when the demand for employment is going to multiply, the most vulnerable people face great difficulties in competing in a market that was already difficult before the crisis. Now, more than ever, we need the commitment of the business community and its inclusive employment to prevent poverty and inequality becoming chronic in our country. Thanks to the support of companies like Endesa, we can reinforce our resources to accompany, guide, train, offer psychological support and respond to all those families who urgently need a job to escape exclusion, regain their dignity and resume their lives".

For his part, the Endesa CEO, José Bogas, highlighted the company's proven ability to quickly join forces and turn the direction of its projects towards a different and supportive focus. "That must be one of the lessons learnt, one which is here to stay. Life is unpredictable, true, but it takes an effort from everyone to overcome challenges, that is something that is predictable". This support for the Adecco Foundation initiative is part of the energy group's Public Responsibility Plan, which it launched after the outbreak of the pandemic and is endowed with €25 million. With this PRP, the company wants to reinforce a message that is part of its global strategy: the need to leave no one behind, in any energy, economic or social transition that comes about.

More information about the #EmergenciaPorElEmpleo initiative on the website fundacionadecco.org

About Endesa

We are the leading company in the Spanish electricity sector and the second-biggest operator in the electricity market in Portugal. We employ around 10,000 people and serve more than ten million customers who have placed their trust in us.

We want to contribute to creating a new energy model based on clean energies, respect for the environment and sustainable development. Our priority is people, which is why we strive to offer our customers a better service and base our business strategy on the commitment to local communities and the contribution to the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

We carry out our activity mainly in the Spanish and Portuguese markets. To a lesser extent, we sell electricity and gas in other European markets as well as other value-added products and services (PSVA) related to our core business.

We are working to lead the technological transformation in which our sector is engaged. To this end, we have a solid industrial position and the strength bestowed upon us by belonging to a large multinational group, the Enel Group, which we joined in the first quarter of 2009.

About the Adecco Foundation

Established in July 1999, the Adecco Foundation is the result of the Corporate Social Responsibility assumed by the Adecco Group as a world leader in human resource management. Its main objective is the inclusion into the labour market of those people who, due to their personal characteristics, find it more difficult to find a job.

- People with disabilities

- Long-term unemployed over 45 years old

- Women with non-shared family responsibilities or victims of gender violence

- Other groups at risk of social exclusion