The initiative, designed for the company’s professionals, includes language tuition offered by the J&F Institute
JBS, the global food company, has just launched the latest edition of its JBS Sem Fronteiras program, an initiative for taking employees from Brazil to work at the company’s overseas operations. There are 1500 opportunities in a range of functions in the production and administration areas at JBS Australia. The J&F Institute, the center for education of the J&F group’s business, is providing language training courses for the program participants. The chosen employees are boarding for Australia between April and December this year.
“We are a global company with a solid culture and a focus on having the right people in the right places. Our mission is to create opportunities for a better future for all our employees, which is why we put so much faith in the JBS Sem Fronteiras program”, explains Fernando Meller, Senior Human Resources Officer of JBS Brazil .
With more than 140,000 employees in the Brazilian operation, JBS is one of the country’s largest employers, with a presence in more than 20 states – globally, the work totals 260,000 professionals in 24 countries. The JBS Sem Fronteiras program is the company’s way of retaining talent within the organization, making production line positions more attractive within the communities where it operates, while strengthening its role as an employer brand offering professional development opportunities within Brazil and overseas.
To participate in the latest edition of the program, the interested candidates need to have concluded elementary school, have worked for JBS for at least 12 months and have a minimum of two years’ experience. Those successful in the process receive full support from JBS for the change of country, with assistance involving visas, the purchase of airline tickets, documentation and work contracts.
Even those who don’t speak English can participate. The J&F Institute offers free language courses with interactive content and classes with native speakers. The course platform is accessible at any time of the day, and includes videos, audio, e-books and activities. From time to time the students are evaluated for their learning progress.
“We are pleased to be able to offer our employees opportunities to develop and in this way increasingly contribute to our company’s growth and to spread and strengthen our culture”, adds Meller.
JBS Australia in one of the key global operations of JBS, accounting for 9% of the company’s global net revenue and employing a 14,000-strong work force. JBS has been operating in the Australian market since 2007, when it purchased the beef cattle company Australia Meat Holdings. Since then, it has been expanding its business in the region through a series of acquisitions leading to operations in prepared foods in the lamb, pork and fish segment.
Role in education
The J&F Institute is an education center for the business run by the J&F Group, the holding company that controls JBS. Integrating the company, family and school, the J&F Institute carries out socio-educational projects focusing on vocational and practical learning. There are currently 913 students enrolled at the J&F Institute, 39% of them from families with a per-capita income of up to 1.5x the minimum wage.
