Vodafone Czech Republic wins award for supporting Romani students and their "hidden labor market potential"

Employers who have responded to this challenge were given Diversity Charter Awards for the first time ever in the Czech Republic on the occasion of Europe Day this year. Vodafone Czech Republic won in the category of Roma-Friendly Company.

The festivities of the international conference for the European Day of Diversity 2025, which concluded the European Month of Diversity in May, were held this year in the historical Fantova Hall of the Main Railway Station in Prague. During that event, held by the Business for Society platform, the Diversity Charter Awards were given for the first time ever in the Czech Republic, appreciating firms which support equal opportunity and open work environments.

One of the categories was the Roma-Friendly Company award for employers which have long supported inclusion of the Romani minority in a systematic way.

Vodafone wins first prize for supporting Romani students

First place went to Vodafone Czech Republic for its project called “REACH – Race, Ethnicity and Cultural Heritage”. “I am enormously glad for Vodafone, because many people contribute to that program,” Magdaléna Wavle of Vodafone told ROMEA TV.

“We offer internships to Romani students, we contribute to the ROMEA organization’s scholarship program, and we hold workshops, for instance, on how to put together a CV or do well in a job interview,” Wavle said. Second place in this category went to the Wienerberger company for a project on career counseling for disadvantaged students.

Third place went to IKEA Czech Republic for their initiative called “Diversity – the Door to IKEA for Everybody”. Klepierre Management won an honorable mention for a project called “Inclusion in Motion”, created in collaboration with the Palaestra organization.

Firms have the power to transform the atmosphere in society, Fuková says

The Roma-Friendly Company awards are not just a symbolic gesture, according to Fuková, but a real step forward in combating antigypsyism. “Romani people really have hidden potential for the labor market. I believe that it is exactly those firms which open their doors to the Roma which can bring about change. Roma-friendly firms are showing the way forward,” she told ROMEA TV.

Fuková went on to say that the business sector is unique in that it is able to offer equal opportunities, integration, and respect to Romani applicants. “Today I heard things being said here which are already commonplace for some firms, that they are doing their best to be fair and open to diverse groups and that they perceive this to be the basis of their own culture, growth, and effectiveness,” she said.

According to the Government Commissioner for Roma Minority Affairs, the experience of practitioners shows that some Romani people face structural barriers to employment – for instance, losing work habits during long spans of unemployment, having uncertain public transportation options for commuting, or being concerned that the collections proceedings they are involved in will take most of their earnings, which is why they remain in the grey economy. It is exactly firms, in her view, which can aid Romani workers with breaking this vicious cycle, for instance, by creating fair installment payments to their employees’ creditors, by mentoring new hires, or by stressing that the training of the long-term unemployed in adapting to their jobs must be delivered in an intelligible way.

First year of the award: Four categories and dozens of projects submitted

According to Pavel Štern of the Business for Society platform, 26 firms submitted a total of 44 projects to the first year of this competition. Each category was evaluated by an independent, professional jury that was separately organized.

“The awards motivate firms to develop their diversity further, and at the same time they open up subjects in society about which we need to hear. The Roma-Friendly Company award is exactly an example of this,” Štern told ROMEA TV.

According to the organizers, diversity and inclusion are not a marginal subject in business management, but form a strategic pillar of a healthy work environment. The companies which have voluntarily signed the European Commission’s Diversity Charter in the Czech Republic so far represent more than 200,000 employees and are transforming the Czech labor market from within.