ABB seeks to raise the quality of life in communities where it operates, and be an employer of choice. In 2008, ABB companies in 35 countries supported community development projects, donating approximately $6.5 million, while employees volunteered for nearly 2,200 days of work.
Programs to ease poverty are under way in Brazil, Canada, China, India and South Africa, while employees in the U.K. and U.S. organize and take part in fund-raising events for cancer research. In Germany, 150 volunteers from 19 ABB locations used holiday time in 2008 to help handicapped athletes participate in the Special Summer Olympics in Karlsruhe.
Many schemes encourage education. The ABB Jürgen Dormann Foundation for Engineering Education gave scholarships to university students in Poland in 2008, and students in other countries will benefit in 2009. In Switzerland, a scheme called Second Chance gives young people who broke off apprenticeships
a year-long training program to get back on the jobs ladder.
ABB also won a number of awards in 2008. ABB in the United Arab Emirates won recognition for its environmental and social activities by topping the main category of the first Arabia Corporate Social Responsibility Awards. And in Saudi Arabia, ABB was voted the “best industrial company to work for.”