Disability no longer an obstacle to employment in Diyarbakır

to her wheelchair, but she never lost hope that she would find a job. A project launched by the Transportation Ministry encouraging disabled people to participate in society and to enter the workforce attracted her attention. Following announcements by the GSM operator carrying out the project, Ayli decided to participate by going to Global Bilgi, a call center for Turkey’s largest GSM operator, Turkcell, and is now one of the two disabled persons in Diyarbakır who were employed as part of the “Home Agent Project for the Disabled.”

 The project was launched by the Transportation Ministry on Dec. 3, the International Day of Disabled Persons, in order to employ disabled persons in Turkey. Turkcell, which supported the ministry’s project with the “Home Agent Project for the Disabled,” employed seven disabled persons in İstanbul, Diyarbakır and Erzurum. While four of these individuals are blind or visually impaired, three of them have paraplegia and do the same job as other workers in call centers, but they work from home. Turkcell establishes the technical infrastructure in the disabled person’s home according to their disability. For the blind, an audio system developed by Microsoft is installed which reads the computers actions aloud, while a system in which the mouse magnifies the area on which the cursor sits is installed for those with impaired vision. Call center operators who work at home are given an average of three days of training while those who work in regular call centers receive 19 days. Training programs are constantly under way as new staff are employed as the company’s workload increases. New call center workers are employed to replace those who quit due to military service, marriage or university.

Ayli believes that her job will bring about many marked changes in her life. “I will be able to live on my salary without being financially dependent on my family. I am now 47 years old. This is my first job. There are many disabled people in our region. Since the education level among their families is very low, they have serious problems. Disabled people here are not allowed to mingle with society. I feel very lucky. I hope other companies will take Turkcell as an example for themselves,” said Ayli.

Ercan Kaçar who resides in Diyarbakır’s Kayapınar district, began working one week ago. Kaçar, who has impaired vision, works at home for Turkcell. He recently started work and carries out the company’s telephone survey work, which is relatively lighter in comparison to answering customer service queries. Saying that working at home is unbelievably comfortable, Kaçar thinks that a helping hand will be extended to the disabled as long as they are determined to overcome obstacles. He also voices his disappointment with the fact that many people without disabilities in the Southeast are jobless.

Deniz Ateş, head of Turkcell’s Diyarbakır call center, Global Bilgi, said Turkcell will continue its efforts to invest in the region and employ more people next year. Stressing that his company sees it as a moral responsibility to provide jobs for people, Ateş said Turkcell established a call center with an investment of $12.3 million in Diyarbakır in 2008. The number of people employed in the Diyarbakır call center increases every month. “We started with 50 employees. We had 300 employees at the end of 2008. We now have 600 employees. We are working to increase this number to 1,000. The number of our employees increases every day in line with the intensity of our work.”

A total of 16 disabled people are employed in Turkcell’s call center in Diyarbakır. They are picked up in the morning and brought home again after work. Working five days a week, the disabled employees make an average salary of TL 750. The call center building was constructed taking into consideration the needs of the disabled. Disabled people can move around the building without assistance.

Gülten Ulaş, one of the disabled people employed in Turkcell’s Diyarbakır call center, has been working for the company for 18 months and is among those with the best work performance record. “I am doing my best and am very committed to my job. I hope my other friends with disabilities will find jobs,” she said.

Ateş complained that although Turkcell makes an effort to employ disabled persons, it was very difficult for the company to find qualified disabled people to employ in the region.

“We are looking for candidates who have computer skills and are high school graduates at least,” he said.