Airport supports deaf employees – salzburg.ORF.at
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A project has been running at Salzburg Airport for some time in which the deaf are offered good career opportunities. Communication is crucial here – with deaf workers, but again and again with passengers. It is about better integration and inclusion in everyday, professional and travel worlds.
Around 450,000 people in Austria have a hearing impairment, almost 10,000 of them are deaf. About 700 deaf people live in Salzburg. Three women and one man from this community work in a cleaning team at Salzburg Airport. They are actually war refugees from Ukraine.
Deaf war refugees with a lot of work
The work is easy for them. The family has been in Salzburg since the summer and already feels well integrated. Anna emphasizes that hearing and deaf people can work well together: “Sign language is also understood here, everything works. Hearing people show me work, I look at it, and then everything is actually clear.”
“Integration very important”
Claudia Amerijan is responsible for technical assistance. She has worked at the airport for 22 years and is the deputy head of cleaning. She is fluent in sign language and provides important support in communication: “The integration of the deaf is important, and you have to be able to get them a job.”
Amerijan is one of several workers at the airport who have specially learned sign language: “Several people have the basic courses here. Now we have two foremen on the course again, and more volunteers will be coming in the spring.”
Deaf specialist in the airport workshop
Romanian-born Marius Marian is also deaf. The trained sculptor, carpenter and father of two hearing children works in the airport workshop, where he also does a lot of locksmith and caretaker work for the extensive operation: “I completed a four-year apprenticeship in Romania as an art and woodworker. After my diploma I worked in the profession. Then I found my wife and came to her in Salzburg. Here I was looking for a job. I attended German courses and found work at another company. But it didn’t go so well there. So I came to the airport. Now I’m a locksmith’s laborer and I’ve learned a lot.”
Manager sees benefits for everyone
Marian is enthusiastic about his work every day, says Airport Managing Director Bettina Ganghofer: “We support it and drive it further. If you want to understand each other, then you can understand each other. You just have to approach each other and there has to be a serious interest. Everything else will come about over time.”
According to experts, the teamwork at Salzburg Airport is a showcase project of how well it can work – also for the deaf in a modern transport company and regional leader.