In Thailand, over 800,000 people of working age identify as people with disabilities (PwDs). Only a third of that number have access to employment, while over a third are dependent on state support. Thoughtworks teamed up with Vulcan Coalition to help bring more of this demographic successfully into the workforce through tech-driven inclusivity.
Vulcan Coalition (Vulcan) builds AI tools co-created by PwDs to hone their tech skills, providing them with a pathway to a fulfilling career. Along with ongoing advisory services to upskill and manage their operations efficiently, Thoughtworks and Vulcan have partnered on a number of specific projects.
In 2021 Vulcan were looking to hire more PWDs into data-labelling roles, to train their AIs. To support this growth, they wanted to develop an in-house Learning Management System (LMS). Unable to use an off-the-shelf LMS due to language and accessibility barriers, something more bespoke was needed. We supported Vulcan’s endeavour by selecting and testing a learning management system designed for inclusivity. Following the Discovery process, ‘Vulcan Academy’ was developed, which has to date upskilled more than 1000 PwDs.
In 2022 another challenge arose—how to help employees with visual impairments expand their careers into coding. The issue was that the relevant training materials that were in Thai were inaccessible for the blind Thoughtworks stepped in and provided training directly to Vulcan’s learners. Our Thai developers had weekly meetings with the Vulcan team, providing tuition, homework and support. This was a beneficial exchange for all involved: the employees learned how to code, while our Thoughtworkers gained valuable insight into how to create and deliver an inclusive training program.
More recently, we’ve worked with Vulcan on their call center service. We are currently helping to redesign and improve their service blueprint to enable PwDs to handle incoming calls more effectively. We’re also designing a dashboard to track call handlers’ performance. This developing service enables more than 100 PwDs to work from home and grow their skillset.
In over three years of working with Vulcan, we’re proud to have contributed to projects that enable broader participation in the tech industry. Together we’re proving that PwD-run and supported services can be competitive, efficient and effective.