PepsiCo encourages inclusiveness by teaching sign language

To encourageEngagement in Saudi Arabia’s society, employees from PepsiCo, the global food and beverage company, taught sign language to the community and provided them with Lay’s, Sunbites, and Aquafina. The initiative intends to raise awareness of the importance of including people with hearing impairments, in line with Listen to Me week. 

Five PepsiCo employees participated in the initiative, which encouraged people on Tahlia Street to learn basic sign language gestures. Passersby were taught how to sign ‘hello’, ‘thank you’, and ‘goodbye’, and were treated with PepsiCo products as thanks for taking the time to learn how to communicate to hearing impaired people. 

Bander Albader, Senior Director of Human Resources at PepsiCo, said: “We believe that a successful community is one in which every member has the opportunity to participate and thrive. Even being able to communicate in the most basic way, by saying hello, thank you or goodbye, has the potential to make someone with a hearing impairment feel more included. We have taken steps within our own company to ensure that we can provide opportunities for our hearing-impaired employees to succeed, including teaching sign language to our colleagues.” 

As an inclusive company, PepsiCo provides opportunities to all members of society. Since 2010, PepsiCo has incorporated practices that enable people with hearing impairment to integrate into the workplace, including a sign language course that new employees into the company are required to complete. Currently, PepsiCo employs more than 65  employees with hearing impairment. 

In 2018, PepsiCo received Mowaamah certification from the Ministry of Labor, in line with the National Transformation Program 2020 to enable people with disabilities to integrate into the workforce.