They’ll bee happy at Jollibee

Don’t worry, bee happy.

This may well be the catch-phrase of the deaf-mute, about 800 of whom will be hired by food chain giant Jollibee in more than 400 outlets nationwide, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said over the weekend.

This would be on top of the 600 already hired by the fastfood chain, so that it will no longer be unusual to place one’s order using sign language.

DOLE assistant secretary for internal affairs Florenda Herrera said the hiring of these disabled
persons will be made with the help of the government and a number of organizations.

Aside from Jollibee and DOLE, also involved in the project are DOLE’s agency Technical Education Skills Development Authority (TESDA) and the Special Training for Employment Advocacy Mainstreaming-Deaf Foundation Inc. (STEAM-DFI).

The program for the disabled is also in observance of the Month of the Disabled this July.

Herrera said DOLE and the other offices mentioned will be signing a memorandum of agreement (MOA) within this week to formalize the program for the disabled.

Herrera said the government and private companies started hiring disabled persons "to boost the morale of the disabled and give them opportunity."

STEAM-DFI will be in charge of training the deaf-mute staff who will be hired as crew in Jollibee outlets. The prospective employees will also undergo psychological tests.

STEAM-DFI will be using what it calls a dual training system, where there will be interpreters in the training so that the deaf-mute would understand instructions.

At least two deaf-mute individuals will be hired for each Jollibee branch.

On the other hand, Jollibee will be using innovative equipment such as blinking lights as timer for the cooking of French fries and other food so that the deaf-mute will be alerted to the exact time of frying.

The program for hiring disabled persons will not be limited to crews of fastfood chains or other blue collar jobs, but they will also eventually be tapped for white collar jobs like in the accounting department and other posts.

The minimum wage for the disabled will depend on the region where they are assigned.

DOLE is also set to meet with the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Employers’ Confederation of the Philippines to get their support for the program.

Recently, Jollibee aired a television commercial featuring a deaf-mute female child together with product endorser and actor Aga Muhlach, which attracted the attention of his fans and other viewers.

The sign language saying "be happy" (or bee happy) became as popular as a dance craze, or was that merely another order for Chickenjoy?