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PC, Internet link disabled man to company Yomiuri Shimbun Oki Electric Industry Co. began employing people with serious disabilities to work from home in 1998. The company, which is based in Minato Ward, Tokyo, includes subsidiaries. It employs seven workers with disabilities, and plans to hire three more soon. Shortly after 10 a.m. each day, Takashi Tsuda, 42, receives several e- mails that say, "I am ready to begin today's work." Tsuda is one of the core staff of Oki Human Network, an affiliate that manages the Oki group's personnel. The e-mails are from employees with disabilities who work from home, referred to by the company as "Oki Networkers." They are men and women in their 20s and 30s, some of whom are paralyzed due to damage to the cervical vertebrae and others with disabilities stemming from brain- cell damage. Five of them work for Oki Electric, while two work for Oki Software. They mainly operate the company's Web sites and databases, and provide logistical support. Although Oki Electric initially had planned to station the workers at its division offices, its responses were negative. "Designing Web sites and performing similar work don't require workers to be in the office every day, but when things get busy, they have to work until late at night," one division official said. Finally, Tsuda established a "virtual company" inside the Oki group. He receives orders by contacting divisions, and then distributes the work among the employees working from home, according to their individual skills and physical strength. The workers were recruited when they finished computer classes at Tokyo Colony, a social welfare organization in Tokyo that holds PC study courses for people with disabilities who wish to find work. One paralyzed employee inputs data with his nose, while another with a damaged cervical vertebrae does the same thing using long chopsticks held in his mouth. They work for six hours a day and make about 900 yen per hour. === 'Value-added' jobs increase pride Tsuda gives instructions to his colleagues by telephone and e-mail, and also pays attention to their health. "I ask them to perform 'value-added' duties, not simple data-input jobs. Their position within the company has risen remarkably," he said. Shinichi Tanaka, 27, in Nishitokyo, western Tokyo, was employed in 1999. He damaged his cervical vertebrae as a middle school student, and today is confined to a wheelchair. He said, "If I am capable, it does not matter whether I have disabilities or not. Unless I acquire new skills every day, my value as a worker will drop." SOURCE: The Yomiuri Shimbun http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/newse/20020330wo34.htm * * * ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn