4. SOCIAL ACTION

Our commitment to our environment is one of the pillars of Inditex’s activity, in particular when it comes to improving the inclusion in the area of work of vulnerable people or groups with special needs that make it more difficult for them to find employment. Moreover, our contribution has two angles: the projects Inditex promotes in the business sphere; and the initiatives promoted by our own employees.

A few years ago, we began to implement various actions in which both our experience in the business and the contribution of our people in the form of economic contributions, donations and voluntary hours are an active and vital part of what we do for society. The network of stores for&from, the Jeunes and Salta projects, The Big Idea Project and Solidarios programme were some of the key elements of the strategy in 2016.

SALTA PROJECTS

The Jeunes project was created in France in 2008 with the aim of improving the employability and labour integration of vulnerable collectives. It works to promote the employment of at-risk youth in the Paris metropolitan area.

The concept was also launched in Spain in 2010 as the Salta project. Its objective is to provide job opportunities within our stores, factories and logistics centres, for people who live in situations of social exclusion. The Salta Mundo version of the project is present in 10 countries and cities: Spain, Mexico, Brazil, New York, Lisbon, London, Milan, Athens, Paris and Warsaw.

Salta would not be possible without the direct and voluntary involvement of our employees, who play a fundamental role both in the implementation and development of the project, participating directly as trainers, tutors and mentors. Since it began, the Salta project has integrated more than 650 people into the labour market, assisted by a total of 800 employees who have participated voluntarily as trainers, tutors and mentors. In 2016 alone, more than 220 people participated in this initiative, supported by a total of 460 employees.

FOR&FROM PROJECT

The for&from Project is a programme run by Inditex to provide jobs for people with disabilities, based on the concepts of social innovation and shared value. The initiative is founded on the creation of a network of social franchises managed by non-profit organizations and staffed by people with disabilities.

This outlet model works on supplying clothing and accessories from past seasons, which are sold at reduced prices by the social organizations involved. Following an initial donation from Inditex to fund the store’s construction, the model then becomes self-sustaining based on the sale of the products.

During 2016, Inditex opened three new for&from establishments in collaboration with the non-profit cooperative Moltacte, the Galician Confederation of People with Disabilities (Confederación Galega de Persoas con Discapacidade, COGAMI), and the Fundación Molí d’en Puigvert. These stores are Massimo Dutti Igualada, Massimo Dutti Palafolls and Pull&Bear Ferrol, respectively. The programme currently involves 11 retail stores that generate 126 jobs and a turnover of more than 7 million euros in 2016.

With the aim of quantifying the social profits gained from the for&from project, the Fundación Ecología y Desarrollo (ECODES) carried out a study to identify and analyse the social and socio-economic returns from the project entitled “Identification and analysis of the social and socio-economic return of for&from through application of the Social Return on Investments (SROI) methodology”.

The study found that for&from creates social, economic and socio-economic value approximately seven times greater than the investment made by Inditex to implement the programme. In particular, it found that for every euro (€1) invested by Inditex to purchase and adapt for&from stores, the programme returned approximately €6.23 (present net value at 10 years from the initial investment) in social and socio-economic benefits linked to its main objective, that of providing people with severe disabilities decent work that enables their inclusion in the labour market.

OTHER INITIATIVES

In 2011, the constant involvement of our employees in social initiatives led Inditex to create Inpulse, an internal platform that has channelled the social and voluntary actions of our employees. In 2016, Inpulse, has evolved into Solidarios. The platform is available on the corporate intranet, INet. It aims to become a global platform to host all of our social actions.