When mental health is not a problem at work: UNEI reaches 1,500 employees

Mental health problems have ceased to be a taboo subject since the pandemic, which brought to light a reality unknown to the general public: one in four people has had or will have a mental health problem. To date, attempts have been made to hide this situation for fear of social stigma, which means that more than half of the people with a disorder who need treatment do not receive it..

Some public figures have helped make this reality visible and normalize, such as Ricky Rubio's resignation this past weekend from his current basketball career to focus on his mental health problems or his return to competition in style of the North American gymnast Simone Biles this week.

But the truth is that eight out of ten people with a disease of this type cannot find a job, especially due to the ignorance and fear of employers to incorporate a person with problems that can range from anxiety and depression to schizophrenia. and bipolar disorder.

Faced with this, the Andalusian company UNEI, majority owned by the ONCE Social Group, through Ilunion, and the Junta de Andalucía, through the Andalusian Public Foundation for the Social Integration of People with Mental Illness (Faisem), has become a national benchmark in the fight for the labor inclusion of people with mental illness and other disabilities.

This firm was born as a brand at the end of 2020 to represent and publicize a project that has been carrying out social work for 30 years under the name Idema Grupo. In these last three years, UNEI has grown at great speed after an important process of internal modernization, investments and commitment to new business niches..

UNEI plans to end the year with 1,500 employees, 80% with some disability (50% with mental health problems). This represents a growth of 20% in just twelve months. Even better will be the result at the business level, with a turnover that will reach 25 million euros, which represents a 25% increase in business figures over the previous year..

As a non-profit company, UNEI fully reinvests its profits in projects that result in the creation of more job opportunities for people with disabilities.

The company has five business areas: “Smart supply” (smart supply), “Social and health” (health and society), “Services”, “Natura” and “Activa”. The first two are those that have registered the greatest growth, after a firm commitment by the company to grow in these two areas considered strategic.

Thus, last month, UNEI signed the contract by which it takes charge of the logistics operations of the more than 7,000 new communication devices of the Digital Emergency Network of Andalusia.. These are the teams that will be used for their communications by regional services such as those of the Infoca Plan, 112 Emergencies of Andalusia, the Public Health Emergencies Company (EPES), which coordinates the 061 service; the Autonomous Police, the operations in charge of operating the ski slopes of Sierra Nevada or the Hidrosur network, which manages the water basins.

The joint venture made up of Axion and Cellnex, awarded the contract by the Andalusian Government for the supply, installation, start-up, operation and maintenance of the Digital Emergency Network, has in turn entrusted UNEI with the reception, storage, configuration and delivery of all these devices.

Among its new projects, the expansion of its cold platform stands out, located in its logistics center in the Calonge business park. After the work, it will have 900 square meters of positive and frozen cold storage. With this commitment, the company seeks to attract more projects in the large distribution and food sector and create up to 40 additional jobs.

With this expansion, UNEI will be able to reach 5,000 cubic meters of storage capacity -both positive cold and freezing- and access market niches related to the food and distribution sector, cold specialists or community catering companies. The goal is for the facility to be fully operational in September.

In the “Social and Health” division, the company has a long history that allows it to be the first company in Spain in the coordination, installation, repair and maintenance service for Telecare providers, with 270,000 users, 170,000 annual installations and more than 250 employees in this area.

In addition, through its Services division, UNEI carries out cleaning, concierge, maintenance or access control tasks.. In this area, UNEI has more than 600 employees and provides 900,000 hours of service per year.

Likewise, from its Natura line, UNEI carries out gardening, landscaping, reforestation, cleaning and maintenance of beaches or environmental conservation, with more than 150 people employed and 275,000 hours of service per year in this line of business.. Emblematic projects stand out such as the gardening of the city of Jerez, the landscaping of the González Byass winery, in this same municipality, and the reforestation of the Green Belt of Granada.

Finally, UNEI manages two sports and leisure spaces in Jerez, Arena Village and The Racket Club, through its Activa division..

In terms of human resources, it should be noted that UNEI has Support Units (UdA), made up of a total of about 70 people. These teams are found in all its headquarters and work centers, to ensure the emotional well-being and adaptation to the position of the staff.