In the list of Vietnam's 100 best companies to work for recently announced by Anphabe, Abbott held the leadership in pharmaceutical/medical equipment/healthcare services and stood among the top four, marking the eighth year the global healthcare leader has been honored in the ranking.

In order to come up with the list of Top 100 Vietnam Best Places to Work in 2021 published on December 22, Anphabe, a Vietnamese consulting firm providing workforce solutions and career networks, connected with thousands of experts and professionals in the country.

The company said it had conducted a survey to measure Employer Brand Attractiveness of the top 595 businesses across 20 industries from May to August 2021.

More than 65,000 working professionals nationwide had joined the survey to vote for their prioritized and desired workplaces based on many criteria, which included awareness, interest, enrollment, desire, and prioritized selection – components that make up Anphabe's Employer Brand Attractiveness index.

The ranking reflects the work environment in the U.S. healthcare company, established in 1888, which has been sustainably building a diverse and innovative workforce for the future with 109,000 employees in over 160 countries now serving around two billion people, or about one-fourth of the world's population.

“The diversity of our people leads to the innovation that helps us bring life-changing technology to people around the globe,” said Mary Moreland, Abbott's executive vice-president, human resources.

Among the company's latest innovative products, Amplatzer Piccolo Occluder, a device to treat premature babies and newborns with an opening in their heart, and the FreeStyle Libre system, the world’s first-of-its-kind wearable sensor-based technology used for monitoring glucose levels, have been brought to Vietnam.

In honor of innovative efforts to improve lives, Abbott was named by Fast Company as the 2020 World Changing Company of the Year. Fast Company is the world's leading progressive business media brand.

2030 Sustainability Plan targets

The company's aspiration to build the workforce for the future is shown through its 2030 Sustainability Plan targets, which focuse on innovating for greater access to life-changing technologies and breaking down barriers to health equity to reach more than three billion people by 2030.

In March 2021, the company released 2020 Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Report, which shares updates on Abbott's workplace representation and culture, along with examples of its partnerships to advance health equity in communities.

“This report lays out our plans, strategies, and actions to make Abbott the actively inclusive community that we want – and need – it to be,” said President and Chief Executive Officer Robert B. Ford, who was named the firm’s board chairman on December 10.

“These plans will help all of our colleagues reach their full potential; and by addressing health inequities, we will help the people we serve live their fullest lives.

“Our ultimate goal is an organization in which inclusiveness is a natural state, not an initiative.”

Abbott has been actively shaping the organization by prioritizing diversity and inclusion, advancing STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) education and internships, and empowering the staff with skills to meet the health needs of tomorrow.

This year Abbott has received the Asia Pacific award for Extraordinary Internship Program presented by France’s ChooseMyCompany in the HappyIndex®Trainees category.

For the purpose of serving

In 2021, the company managed to keep its Vietnam operation uninterrupted as the COVID-19 pandemic flared up, while empowering employees to make changes and help build a resilient, diverse, and responsible supply chain.

In mid-July at the peak of the fourth wave of infections, the Vietnamese government required an immediate self-contained bubble for business and manufacturing continuity, and companies had 48 hours to comply.

With a sense of urgency, Abbott organized a cross-function team collaboration to secure tents, mosquito nets, bedding, and supplies for the camping colleagues in medicine manufacturing and nutrition warehousing.

These 200 Abbott people, who are in charge of manufacturing and supply chain management as well as delivery of medicines and nutritional products to expectant moms, children, people with diabetes, and elderly parents, demonstrated 'unwavering commitment' to segregating the working, eating, and sleeping areas.

The team retained the bubble for a total of 90 days, having stayed with modest accommodations on the warehouse and manufacturing floors.

As the city, Vietnam's biggest, went through lockdowns earlier this year to treat infected people and slow the virus spread, Abbott stayed steadfast and dependable to small milk shop owners, big supermarkets, mom and baby stores, and pharmacies throughout most challenging phases of the Delta strain outbreak and earned their trust as a reliable partner in difficult times.

The company also received appreciation from COVID-19 patients and doctors fighting the pandemic who were guaranteed with uninterrupted access to life-saving medicines, nutritional products, tests, and technical service.