We gave William the chance to move forward

“Sodexo was the first company that gave me a chance to enter the labour market, and I have been able to develop in a short time. It has been great.”

WilliamAdimi came to Sweden from Syria with the large influx of refugees in 2015. He was just 15 years old and had no parents with him.Atough start for a young person with dreams of becoming an engineer.

As William was a teenager, he was given a place at an upper secondary school in Gothenburg. He found the language difficult at first, but eventually it became easier. He hasn’t done a language course, but learnt by chatting to colleagues and friends.

In 2017, he came into contact with Sodexo through a friend who cleaned the Stena Line ships in Gothenburg.

“I needed a job and thought what my friend told me sounded good. I contacted Magnus Orest, the Regional Manager, and got a weekend job during my studies,” says WilliamAdimi.

Wanted to try something new

Eventually, William was taught to do specialised cleaning, and when a temporary job as a train cleaner turned up just before pandemic, he decided to apply.

“We didn’t have much to do on the ships, and I wanted to try something new.”

He was given the temporary job, and train cleaning turned out to be a perfect fit for a night owl like him.

“I enjoy working at night, and I love coming to work. We laugh a lot and are like a little family – we spend time together outside work sometimes, too,” says William.

Nowadays, he alternates between being a coordinator and a team leader. During coordinator week, he keeps track of arrival times and makes sure the trains are cleaned. His week as a team leader involves checking that the cleaning is of the agreed quality.

Fear of being fired

Because he came to Sweden alone, William has had to support himself as well as studying. He had several jobs at the same time for a while. He was only able to sleep for three hours at a time occasionally, and there was a time when he was late for his shifts.

“I hadn’t told anyone at work about my lack of money. Magnus and his team had a chat with me and we resolved the situation. I am really grateful I got to keep my job.”

Wants to learn more

William has found a place in life where he is happy. Sweden, he says, feels like home. His dream of becoming an engineer is no longer all that clear. He still has plans to go on studying, but first he wants to improve his Swedish and learn more in his current field of work.

Our Impact On Individuals

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Provide and encourage our consumers to access healthy lifestyle choices

100% of our consumers are offered healthy lifestyle options every day

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Provide And Encourage Our Consumers To Access Healthy Lifestyle Choices

New food safety certification

Sodexo in Sweden already holds the ISO certifications ISO 9001:2015, ISO 14001:2015 and ISO 45001:2018.

Stjärnköket, one of our large Central Production Units outside Stockholm, has been certified to ISO 22000, the food safety management system, during this financial year.

Our ISO certifications

• ISO 9001:2015

• ISO 14001:2015

• ISO 45001:2018

• ISO 22000

Quality management systems

Environmental management systems

Occupational health and safety

Food safety management systems

This certification focuses on:

• Interactive communication and system management

• HACCP principles and prerequisites

Having our work audited by an external party means we can demonstrate that we maintain a systematic approach to food safety, which also means that we are constantly improving.