The bank is working with a number of partners to improve work opportunities for persons with disabilities.

Singapore-based United Overseas Bank is widening opportunities for disabled persons by supporting a public/private sector initiative in the Asian city-state.

UOB is partnering with SG Enable, Autism Resource Centre, Movement for the Intellectually Disabled of Singapore and SPD to connect businesses with persons with disabilities for suitable and sustainable employment, in an initiative called “The Unlimited”.

The bank cited a survey it recently carried out with 220 decision-makers at companies in Singapore, showing that two-thirds of them said they would hire persons with disabilities if provided with sufficient guidance on the hiring process. The programme is designed to encourage companies, starting with UOB’s corporate clients, to take the first step.

Under the programme, UOB is the the private sector “catalyst” for inclusive hiring, engaging companies to raise their awareness and to generate interest in hiring persons with disabilities. Interested companies can first conduct an online self-assessment of their readiness for inclusive hiring using the Workplace Disability Inclusive Index. UOB then links up these interested companies with SG Enable, which will in turn work with the ARC, MINDS and SPD to identify suitable candidates for the job roles.

UOB has been hiring persons with disabilities since 2013 at the UOB Scan Hub, its nerve centre for checking, digitisation and archiving customer documents. About 30 per cent of UOB Scan Hub colleagues suffer with autism or hearing impairment. It started a pilot of its inclusive hiring initiative in July 2017.