The Greyston Bakery | With Open Hiring™ model will be coming to Amsterdam
Since 1982, when Zen Buddhist monk Bernie Glassman started the Greyston bakery in New York State, the company is a role model for companies who want to mean more for society. Greyston has an open hiring policy (Open Hiring ™), which is the most radical form of anonymous job application in the world. Since 1995 their products have been delivered to, among others, Ben & Jerry’s, the famous ice cream brand. At the end of last week, Greyston announced that they will open a branch in Amsterdam and introduce their thoughts and methods in the Netherlands. Social Investor Start Foundation has committed $ 500,000 to start the first preparations.
The Open Hiring™ model: “We do not hire people to bake brownies, we bake brownies to hire people.”
The above is a statement by CEO Mike Brady. The Greyston model works like this: anyone who wants a job can fill in his name on a list. Once a job becomes available, the next person on the waiting list will be offered the job. There are no questions asked about the past or holes in their CV, and no references are requested nor screenings done. This gives everyone who wants to, the opportunity to work, regardless of the education, work history or social barriers of the past, such as a criminal past, being homelessness or having used drugs. Profits from the bakery supports the non-profit Greyston Foundation, offering childcare, housing, healthcare, training, computer training centers and more to its employees: low-income people from the community of Yonkers in New York.
Greyston Bakery will be coming to Amsterdam
The arrival of the Americans has preceded over 1.5 years of preparation. Greyston Bakery and Start Foundation were launched by Amsterdam inbusiness, which convinced both partners to establish the bakery in Amsterdam. “Amsterdam is very pleased about the arrival of the Greyston Bakery in the city. The competition was fierce. London and Manchester were also competing, but it was our city that convinced the Greyston Bakery most”.
Conscious Capitalism
During a special event in New York at the Rockefeller Playhouse last week on Thursday, Unilever topman Paul Pollman emphasized the importance of Greyston for the movement of so-called conscious capitalism. Ben Cohen, one of the founders of Ben & Jerry’s, called the collaboration with Start Foundation obvious: “Two frontrunners on a social mission.” Greyston and Start Foundation announced that they will first launch some pilots to adapt the model to European and Dutch circumstances. The model will be ready to run when the bakery opens its doors. This is expected to be by the end of 2019.
Website: Greyston Bakery
