Social and environmental impact

In fact, inclusivity has long been a Flex mantra. In 2015, Flex started its first major hiring initiative in China specifically targeting people with disabilities. Today, Flex employs hundreds of disabled employees across its Chinese sites including people in wheelchairs and those living with hearing or visual impairments, Down Syndrome and autism.

In parallel, the Flex Foundation, the company's philanthropic arm, has funded career development programs for women with disabilities in Guangdong and people with visual impairment in Shanghai. Over the past five years, the Foundation has supported more than two dozen nonprofit projects in China to improve education, economic opportunities, disaster relief and healthcare.

When it comes to the environment, Flex announced a set of comprehensive sustainability goals it aims to reach by 2030, headlined by its membership in the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) to leverage a science-based framework to reduce greenhouse emissions in line with the Paris Agreement. The company is committed to halving its operational emissions by 2030, and expanding renewable energy is key part of its strategy.

As Flex eyes accelerating its climate initiatives over the next decade, its Zhuhai campus has long been driving environmental sustainability. Since nearly a decade ago when Flex installed a photovoltaic power-generating system on the rooftops of Zhuhai's facilities, these solar fields have generated 77 million kilowatt-hours of clean energy. Notably, this project was approved by the central government as part of its National Golden Sun Plan to encourage energy conservation and carbon footprint reduction.

More recently, an organic effort at a Zhuhai facility to improve energy efficiency led a few employees to create energy saving techniques by combining data, automation, and remote controls. In November -- two years after the project's initiation – the team was awarded the inaugural CEO honors given at Flex.