Project news

Jur Ur, a bakery stores company
“Deliver happiness both within the company and to society”

B. Odgerel (center), a woman of dwarfism, works at the Jur Ur factory in Ulaanbaatar.
Always smiling, she is a popular person at the factory.

Forty varieties of cakes and 140 varieties of bread are produced per day.

The factory-direct store of Jur Ur Bakery is located right next to the factory.

The lovely store is decorated with sparkling lights, pretty wall paintings, and fancy interior decorations. Inside, pastries with cream and fruit, sandwiches with lots of filling, decorated cakes, and baked goods are all lined up together, shining like jewels. People peered into the glass cases with the sweet smells, and both children and adults looked happy and smiling. Jur Ur Bakery is one of the most popular bakery stores in Mongolia, with a wide variety of products, good taste, and reasonable prices.

Founded in 1998, the company began producing cakes and opened its first store in 2002 in Ulaanbaatar’s third and fourth districts. Since then, the company has grown steadily and has 27 factory-direct stores and six stores in Ulaanbaatar. Furthermore, the company has factories and stores in Erdenet, Darkhan, the second and third largest city in Mongolia, and Uvurkhangai province in central Mongolia. The company produces 40 kinds of cakes and 140 kinds of bread daily and employs more than 1,000 people.

“As long as there are applicants, we want to accept them.”

M. Nanzaddorj, head of the Human Resources Development Department (left) and D. Dorjdulam, Human Resources Manager

The company’s mission is to “Share Happiness (deliver and share happiness with people).” The company name “Jur Ur” is derived from the name of a medicinal herb that benefits the human body, expressing the company’s wish for its growth and regeneration.

Since 2007, the company has actively promoted the employment of persons with hearing, visual, and physical impairments. As of October 2022, more than 35 persons with disabilities are engaged in cleaning, sales, office work, packaging, manufacturing, and other operations. The company needs to hire only a few more persons with disabilities to meet the statutory employment rate of 4%. Nevertheless, M. Nanzaddorj, head of the Human Resources Development Department, is enthusiastic to hire more employees, saying, “As long as there are applicants who want to work with us, we want to accept as many people as we can. Nanzaddorj adds enthusiastically, “Our company hires persons with disabilities not to meet the statutory employment rate, but to share happiness with as many people as possible. Normally, the company accepts as many applicants as possible, regardless of disabilities. Particularly when a person with disabilities applies, the company deliberates from the perspective of “what kind of support and consideration can be provided for them to work safely and for a long time,” on the premise of hiring the person. Teams of five to six from the Human Resources Development Department and occupational safety staff conduct assessments to determine job assignments from multiple perspectives, considering the applicant’s wishes, the disability status, ease of commuting, and other factors.

“Just as all humans have unique characteristics and no two people are the same, I believe that disability is a part of our personality,” says Nanzaddorj, smiling kindly. He studied marketing and food technology at the Mongolian University of Finance and a university in China with a double degree and joined Jur Ur immediately after graduation. It has been ten years since he started working for the company. “Cakes are indispensable for anniversaries and celebrations. I applied for the job because I wanted to be a part of Jur Ur, a company that brings happiness to the Mongolian people through cakes,” he smiles.

D. Dorjdulam, Human Resources Manager, was hired by Jur Ur because of her experience and knowledge from working as a human resources manager at two companies after graduating from university. She believes that HR is a “bridge between the company and its employees,” as she represents the employees’ needs to the management and communicates the company’s philosophy and management plan to the employees. “I have always liked Jur Ur as a consumer, and now I am happy to be able to use my expertise in human resources to connect the company with persons with disabilities,” she said proudly.

Happiest I have ever been

The factory is automated, and work is carried out efficiently and accurately.

In mid-October 2022, we visited the company’s manufacturing factory in the Khan Uul district, southern Ulaanbaatar. The factory controls disinfection and sanitation thoroughly and carries out all processes from weighing flour, water, yeast, and other ingredients to mixing, fermenting, dividing, moulding, baking, cooling, packaging, and delivering to each store by truck. The factory space coexists with the precise work automated by machines and the experienced technicians’ reliable eyes and intuition.

Of the approximately 300 workers there, ten are persons with disabilities. One of them, B. Odgerel (also known as Odoko), is dwarfism and is in charge of cleaning the factory. Because the high work tables on the production line were too high and burdensome, she decided to do the cleaning after consulting with the company.

Odoko cleaning the sink on a step stand

Odoko always has a smile and gives a bright smile as if a flower has bloomed for those who make eye contact. However, her childhood was filled with hardships. She was born in Ulaanbaatar, but her parents passed away early, forcing her to move to her grandmother’s house with her two older sisters and younger brother. After her grandmother eventually passed away, she was placed in an orphanage in Khentii Province. However, when Odoko was in lower secondary school, the orphanage closed. The four returned to Ulaanbaatar, and her sisters began working. However, Odoko and her younger brother received support from World Vision, an international NGO, and attended a vocational school for two years.

Odoko on her favorite step stand with her colleagues in charge of cleaning.

She then worked in a restaurant kitchen as a serving manager but was not treated well, as her work schedule included late nights. Therefore, in early 2019, she attended the Mongolian Employers’ Federation event and was introduced to the company Jur Ur. She applied, tried a three-month probationary period, and now works there as a full-time employee. She follows detailed work procedures and rules when sweeping floors and hallways and carefully cleans the plant five days a week. For example, she cleans brooms and dustbins before starting work, uses different coloured rags (pink, green, orange, etc.) depending on the area to be wiped, and cleans around the production line during her lunch break. She gets along well with her 20 colleagues and enjoys talking about her favourite Korean dramas during her break.

Odoko shedding tears of joy at the presentation of a ger. © Courtesy of Jur Ur.

Odoko has a 13-year-old daughter. They used to live with a relative, Jur Ur gave them a ger as a gift one year after she joined Jur Ur, and now the two live together happily. “Every morning, we eat sandwiches prepared by ourselves on Jur Ur bread,” laughs Odoko. Her daughter loves to eat Jur Ur cakes and was overjoyed when Odoko decided to join the company. She brings her daughter to the factory when she is not working her shift and introduces her to everyone. When her daughter recently told Odoko, “You smile more often than before,” Odoko replied, “That’s because I work at Jur Ur, and I have a beautiful daughter here.” She is now the happiest she has ever been in her life.

A culture that values unity and bonding

Odoko (right) and Ts. Altangaya have a strong relationship of trust.

In addition to Odoko, the factory employs other persons with disabilities, including those with hearing and visual impairments, in charge of bagging and boxing. Ts. Altangaya oversees the cleaning and servicing of the factory. She gave Odoko a white step stand, which Odoko carries with her throughout the factory. Thirty centimetres high for Odoko to climb up and down, the stand is wide and stable.

Altangaya gave the stand to Odoko not because she could clean from a high place. It can prevent Odoko from becoming nervous and atrophied whenever she needs help picking up something from a shelf or turning on the tap.

Altangaya, who previously worked for a Hong Kong-based clothing manufacturer, joined Jur Ur in 2012 after the company went bankrupt in 2011. At the time, Jur Ur had only 300 employees. For her first year, she was in charge of cleaning like Odoko, but she was soon recognized for her hard work and promoted to her current position. She tries to treat everyone as equals, saying, “It doesn’t matter if you have a disability. If you look down on people, you won’t have a good relationship with them. It’s the most important point, I think.”

Jur Ur holds company-wide athletic meets every spring and fall to strengthen employee unity © Courtesy of Jur Ur.

Altangaya comments about Odoko, “She is always smiling and pleasant. She always makes people give joy and laugh.” At the same time, Odoko admires Altangaya, whom she calls “sister Gaya.” Odoko consults with her on any problems, not just work-related issues. “Altangaya is like an angel. If I don’t talk to her, who will I talk to whenever I have a problem? I am not exaggerating because it is an interview. I like Altangaya from the bottom of my heart,” says Odoko, who has no intention of leaving her job and plans to continue working for many years.

Every year, the company holds a large internal New Year’s party during the lunar New Year. Photo shows the party in 2020 © Courtesy of Jur Ur.

Jur Ur places great importance on employee unity and bonding. During Naadam, an annual ethnic festival in July, all employees, including staff working in local stores and factories, spend three days together in a meadow. In addition, they celebrate the New Year’s Eve party in December and Women’s Day in March together on a larger scale. Employees look forward to these events and opportunities for socializing, and few employees leave the company unless they have specific reasons to relocate or raise children in the family.

Issues to be addressed by the entire society

Nanzaddorj says, “Society must take action, rather than on a per-company basis, to promote the employment of persons with disabilities.

Unfortunately, in Mongolia, sidewalks are still undeveloped. There are many steps, and ramps are not installed next to stairs, making it difficult for wheelchair users and persons with disabilities to go out alone. Even buses are not barrier-free, making it difficult for them to get on and off the buses. Nanzaddorj, introduced above, addressed, “These physical and social barriers are a challenge to expanding the employment of persons with disabilities. There is a limit to what a single company can do to promote the employment of persons with disabilities. Therefore, Mongolian entire society should take the initiative.”

After the interview, we stopped by the factory-direct store, where we found a man standing in front of a window lined with cakes, probably trying to buy a birthday present for his child. “Do you want the yoghurt flavour?” He was calling in a gentle tone of voice. Next to him, a three-year-old boy accompanied by his mother was peering intently into the sandwich showcase, his eyes sparkling with happiness. There was a warm smile on his face and a happy atmosphere in the store.

The company, which produces cakes and bread with the mission to “share happiness” lights up people’s lives and brightens their hearts. At the same time, it places equal importance on the happiness of its employees, fosters bonds, accepts disabilities as individuality, and is full of warmth in recognizing differences. The company, which wishes for the happiness of the Mongolian people and runs faithful businesses through its organization, expects to illuminate even more people with kindness and deliver happiness with the support of the job coaches that DPUB 2 is training.

Company profile

Company name	Jur Ur. LLC
Business	bakery
Number of employees (total)	Approx. 1,000 (As of October 2022)
Number of employees (Ulaanbaatar factory)	Approx. 300 (As of October 2022)
Number of employees with disabilities (total)	35 (As of October 2022) (Visual, hearing, physical impairments, etc.)
Number of employees with disabilities (Ulaanbaatar factory)	10 (As of October 2022)
Reasons for employment of persons with disabilities	To put into practice the corporate mission of “share happiness”
Initiatives for employing persons with disabilities	• Conduct assessment at recruitment • Allocate employees and assign tasks according to their disability • Promote communication between employees and create an open environment regardless of disabilities

【What is the “Job Coach Employment Support Service”?】
The job coach employment support service is a specialised employment support service for persons with disabilities and companies through job coaches, which will be provided from June 2022 by the General Authority for the Development of Persons with Disabilities of Mongolia.
Through this service, hundreds of persons with disabilities are expected to be employed by companies annually. Meanwhile, companies that struggle to employ persons with disabilities must fulfil their social responsibility by paying the levy.

【Contact details】
For more information on the job coach employment support service, please contact:
The General Authority for the Development of Persons with Disabilities
(Хөгжлийн бэрхшээлтэй хүний хөгжлийн ерөнхий газар)
info@gadpwd.gov.mn
Tel: 77073008, 77032222