It is a well-known fact that when major progress needs to be made in the corporate culture, the biggest companies have to take the lead. Eventually, the culture percolates to other companies, and a progressive step can then spread quickly. Over the years, employment opportunities for disabled individuals have increased significantly, and the prejudices against them have abated as well. However, a lot of work still remains to be done in this regard and hence, some of the biggest business establishments need to take the lead. In a new development, it has emerged that the ‘Big 3’ of the consulting business from the United Kingdom has decided to sign the global disability inclusion commitment. The three firms in questions are PricewaterhouseCoopers, Deloitte UK, and KPMG UK.
The name of the pledge is ‘Valuable 500’ and has been established by the group Valuable, which is well-known for spearheading such campaigns. The initiative was launched back in January this year, and it is going to be active until December. Companies which sign the pledge are supposed to support equality and inclusion of disabled people in their organizations. In addition to that, disability inclusion also becomes a part of the agenda at the board level of such companies. Hence, the signing of this pledge is a significant step from these companies. Moreover, the fact that it was launched at the World Economic Forum has also given it a level of prestige that could draw more big names to the cause.
The Chairman of PricewaterhouseCoopers UK, Kevin Ellis spoke about the development. He said,
We’re very pleased to work with Valuable 500. Businesses like ours have a responsibility to promote inclusion and equality and, as business leaders, we need to work together to unlock the value of disabled talent across society. At PWC, we’re committed to creating a culture where everyone feels they can thrive and progress.
However, it is important to note that the signature of the three significant consultancy firms is only the latest in a long line of important signatures that have been gathered from the United Kingdom business establishment. Some of the other major organizations who have pledged their name to the cause are Royal Bank of Scotland, Barclays, Lloyds Banking Group and the Bank of England. It now remains to be seen how this plays out over the course of the year.