Taekwang Group's disability-inclusive workplace completes 8th vocational training program

Keunheemanng, a disability-standard workplace operated by Taekwang Group's leisure and infrastructure affiliate Tsis, announced Friday that it has completed a month-long on-site training program for its eighth cohort of high school students with disabilities.

Four third-year high school students with disabilities, all nearing graduation, took part in this year's eighth cohort. Over the course of a month, trainees were assigned to roles managing in-house welfare facilities — including a cafe, convenience store, mail and delivery services, a staff cafeteria and environmental support — as well as operational support duties such as shoe repair, nail art and health-keeper services. Working hours ran from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. daily, totaling four hours including breaks.

Keunheemanng currently employs 31 workers with disabilities, 25 of whom hold full-time positions. As of this year, 75 percent of all staff have worked at the facility for seven or more years.

The training program has also led to actual hiring. One graduate from last year's seventh cohort was hired as a full-time cafe worker at Keunheemanng in November of that year — the first time a program graduate had been placed in a permanent position since the vocational training launched in 2019.

Keunheemanng said it plans to continue offering one-on-one tailored job training to help trainees adapt to their roles, and will explore hiring pathways that could connect graduates to employment after they finish school.

"We plan to continue the vocational training program to help students with disabilities enter the workforce, while at the same time expanding real employment opportunities," a Keunheemanng official said. "We will keep working to contribute to a community where people with and without disabilities can grow together."