CSR 2025 UK v3 280425 web - Flipbook - Side 27
Sajad Baratis:
Maja Pedersen and Matilde Sørensen:
Part of a community
It’s great to be on the road
Frode Laursen became Sajad Baratis’ way into the
Swedish labour market, language and culture when he
fled from Iran to Sweden as a teenager.
In 2017, two years after arriving in Sweden, Sajad
secured a work placement at Frode Laursen’s logistics
centre in Åstorp.
“I wasn’t sure if I could do it. Before starting at Frode
Laursen, I had never had a job, and I had only just
begun learning the language. But it went really well,
because my colleagues gave me a good grounding,”
says Sajad, and continues:
“During my work placement, I became part of a
community. And whenever I was having a hard time,
my colleagues were always there to help. That gave me
a sense of security,” says Sajad, who was taken on as a
permanent employee after his work placement, and is
now a group leader in distribution at one of the
warehouses in Åstorp.
Maja and Matilde are thrilled to be apprentice HGV
drivers at Frode Laursen, enjoying the freedom and
adventure that comes with the job.
“It’s really great being an apprentice at Frode
Laursen. Even though you’re alone when driving,
there’s a wonderful sense of team spirit. Everyone is
good at helping each other out, and there’s always
lots of friendly chat,” says Matilde. Maja adds: “As an
apprentice, you’re given a lot of responsibility, and it
gives you an adrenaline rush when you get to try new
and challenging tasks.”
Neither has come up against major challenges from
being a woman in a male-dominated industry. As
Matilde says: “The vast majority of people I meet think
it’s cool. Although I have heard one cheeky comment
that women can’t handle driving big vehicles. But I
don’t take that sort of thing too seriously.”
Søren Larsen:
Something meaningful
to get out of bed for
Søren Larsen had settled into his new job as a terminal employee at Frode Laursen well. Then suddenly
everything changed, when he suffered a blood clot
on the brain.
“After the blood clot, continuing as a terminal
employee was out of the question, but I was going insane from spending so much time at home. Fortunately, I was invited to start flexible working, where I could
be given a new role at Frode Laursen,” explains Søren.
He is now a cleaner at Frode Laursen’s logistics centre in
Jyderup and is happy with his new day-to-day routine.
“For me, it was unthinkable that I should take early
retirement. Therefore, the cleaning job was perfect. It
gives me something meaningful to get out of bed for,”
says Søren.
