ACS Named Employer of the Year by Utah Governor's Office for Disability Hiring Efforts

SALT LAKE CITY, Oct. 2  /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Affiliated Computer Services, Inc. will receive the Golden Key Employer of the Year Award for 2008 from the office of Utah Governor Jon Huntsman Friday. The award recognizes outstanding contributions and practices that improve employment opportunities for people with disabilities.

The ceremony will take place tomorrow, October 3, in the Alpine Ballroom of the Hilton Salt Lake City Center beginning at 11:30 a.m. The Hilton is located at 255 South West Temple.

ACS has hired more than 135 people with disabilities since a pilot program began in March. ACS works with agencies that support people with disabilities who refer appropriate candidates to ACS for possible hiring.

"ACS is honored to receive the 2008 Golden Key Employer of the Year Award," said Lora Villarreal, chief people officer for ACS. "This award symbolizes our commitment to giving all people an opportunity, no matter how society chooses to label them. We look beyond the label and directly at the individual."

Kyle Woodruff, 28, is a blind employee working locally for ACS. He is a customer care representative working 40 hours a week and when working with callers, he uses a text recognition system that reads words on his computer screen out loud. The system also translates text into Braille displayed on a special monitor for Kyle. Kyle's professionalism and skills have allowed him to expand his responsibilities to help train new employees.

"It's great to work at a company where they look beyond my disability," said Kyle. "To ACS I am a person with skills, not a person with a disability. I have just as much opportunity at ACS as anybody else."

The Utah Governor's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities, Chambers of Commerce, and their partners selects the winners.  The awards recognize the outstanding contributions and practices that promote employment opportunities for people with disabilities. Some of the practices include: efforts made to provide accommodations, training for managers, supervisors, or line staff to ensure effective working relationships, commitment to hire people with disabilities, advancement opportunities within the company, efforts to promote positive awareness among all employees.

ACS, employing more than 2100 people in Utah, provides ongoing training to employees and managers regarding hiring, managing, and promoting people with disabilities.

ACS has a dedicated team of six recruiters helping more than 28 ACS locations in the US to recruit, hire, and promote people with disabilities. In six months, the team of diversity recruiters has established partnerships with state and local vocational rehabilitation agencies and organizations such as community and local government groups, college disability services offices, self-advocacy, independent-living organizations, as well as veterans' organizations and others that provide services to people with disabilities.

About ACS

ACS, a global FORTUNE 500 company with 65,000 people supporting client operations reaching more than 100 countries, provides business process outsourcing and information technology solutions to world-class commercial and government clients. The company's Class A common stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "ACS." Learn more about ACS at http://www.acs-inc.com/. 

DATASOURCE: Affiliated Computer Services, Inc.



CONTACT:  Media Relations, Chris Gilligan, Corporate Communications

Manager of Affiliated Computer Services, Inc., [phone],





Web site:  http://www.acs-inc.com/ 

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