As an employer, Sightsavers promotes diversity in the workplace and is committed to being an inclusive organisation.
Our commitment to inclusion
Sightsavers strives to create a diverse, inclusive global organisation for current and future employees.
In line with our programme work on disability rights and equality, we actively promote inclusion within our organisation and our wider professional networks. We also monitor gaps in our workforce to identify opportunities to recruit and retain diverse staff.
Sightsavers is a Disability Confident employer with Level 3 accreditation, an accolade awarded to employers that are leaders in inclusion. The Disability Confident scheme helps employers to challenge attitudes and increase understanding of disability, secure high-quality staff and improve employee morale by demonstrating fair treatment.
We’re also a member of the PurpleSpace networking hub, which supports employees with disabilities and makes it easier for employees to navigate the experience of ill health, disability, accident or injury. The aim is to create a unique ‘movement’ of existing disabled employees and their allies, champions and executive sponsors.
A close up of two women holding hands.
Our journey towards workplace inclusion
Sightsavers is committed to recruiting, training and ensuring the wellbeing of a diverse workforce. Follow the timeline of our journey towards becoming an employer of choice for people with disabilities.
Our inclusion timelineSightsavers’ disability inclusion group
Founded in 2016, Sightsavers’ Disability Inclusion Working Group was established to help us reach our inclusion goals. Originally called the Social Inclusion Working Group, it draws its members from the across the organisation, and meets regularly to propose new initiatives and review progress on existing projects and goals. The group was nominated for a prestigious Bond Diversity award in 2020.
Since its inception, the group has:
- Created and launched a global disability training programme for staff and all new starters at Sightsavers
- Helped to develop guidelines for print, digital and live event accessibility, including Microsoft document templates, and introduced an internal testing process to ensure our content is accessible for people using screenreaders
- Organised an ongoing programme of speaker sessions for inclusion champions and external trainers to share their expertise with the organisation
- Helped Sightsavers achieve and retain Disability Confident Leadership status, recognising the organisation’s leadership as an inclusive employer
- Spearheaded an internal accessibility campaign, called Think Accessibility, to encourage employees to adopt accessibility features in their work
Read more about the group’s experiences
See all blog posts
Accessibility
We strive to improve accessibility of our digital and print materials and ensure our events are accessible.
Read our accessibility guidelines
Work for us
We believe diversity improves workplaces, so we welcome all job applicants, regardless of their background.
See our jobs pages
Inclusion news and blogs
“My aim is to make the world a better place for disabled people”
Sightsavers’ Kate Bennell talks to Peter Fremlin, curator and author of the Disability Debrief, about the online newsletter which provides a disability lens on world news.
Why facial disfigurement is a human rights and equality issue
In our latest lunchtime talk, Phyllida Swift, the CEO of Facial Equality International, shared why facial disfigurement needs to be recognised as a human rights and equality issue.
How can we include people with intellectual disabilities at work?
We recently welcomed members from Inclusion International to deliver a talk about the development of the Listen, Include, Respect guidelines.
Learn more about our inclusion work
Read our inclusion report