Walgreens gears up for hiring more workers with disabilities

From Hartford Business in Connecticut:

The Walgreen Co. thinks its new $175 million distribution center in Windsor, Conn., is pretty impressive at nearly a million square feet. But what the company is most proud of is its workers.

Set to open in November, Walgreens expects that 40 percent of the center’s work force will be disabled. Within two years, the company anticipates to fill 800 jobs, of which approximately 320 will go to people with disabilities, said Deb Russell, Walgreens’ manager of outreach.

Based on Walgreens’ experience at its Anderson, S.C., distribution center, where 30 percent of the work force has a cognitive or physical disability, company officials have confidence this plan can work.

The South Carolina facility opened in April 2007, and productivity is up 20 percent compared with its other distribution centers. Russell attributes this to a motivated work force and improved technology.

“Even with better technology, there were concerns the work force might slow it down, but we haven’t experienced that at all,” Russell said. Walgreens has partnered
with a host of state agencies to ensure that workers will receive enough training before the company starts receiving inventory in November. By January, officials expect to have the center’s distribution operation completely up and running.

“They [disabled workers] are learning how to be accurate and how to be fast,” Russell said. “So when we’re ready, they’ll have the skill set necessary to do their jobs.”

Russell said a long training program will help people with cognitive disabilities because they might need more time to learn their jobs. Similar to the distribution center in South Carolina, the Windsor location will be outfitted with ramps and lifts for people with physical disabilities.