EPO hosts its eighth job shadowing event
Last week, 18 talents with disabilities or chronical illness took part in a job shadowing programme across the European Patent Office’s (EPO) sites in Munich, The Hague, Berlin and Vienna. Building on the EPO's successful series of talent matching events in partnership with Emma at Work and myAbility, this marked the first time the shadowing programme, now in its fifth year, took place across all EPO sites. The event underlines the EPO's commitment to promoting diversity and creating opportunities for people with disabilities to develop professionally, while giving them first-hand insight into the organisation's everyday work.
The shadowing week opened with a welcome session led by Vice President Patent Granting Process Steve Rowan. This was followed by an introductory session on intellectual property rights and the role of the EPO. Throughout the week, the talents gained practical insights into working life at the EPO, established meaningful contacts and benefited from the knowledge and support of colleagues. The shadowing concluded with a session where both mentors and talents shared their reflections.
“I felt welcomed from the first second. Everyone was putting in the effort to give me the best experience and I couldn’t have asked for anything else. All the people I met, even just walking around the office, were super helpful. Many thanks to my mentor, the best shadowing partner I could have asked for,” said one participant.
“It was really insightful to take part in a job shadowing in an organization like the EPO, because I was able to get a clear image of what are your main topics,” said another participant.
About Emma at Work and myAbility
The job shadowing event forms part of the EPO’s ongoing partnerships with Emma at Work in The Netherlands and myAbility in Germany and Austria.
In early 2026, the EPO started a pilot partnership with Emma at Work, a Dutch social enterprise founded 19 years ago that supports young people with chronic conditions or physical disabilities to develop their talents and access sustainable employment in The Netherlands.
Established in 2009, myAbility.jobs was the first job platform dedicated to people with disabilities. It later served as the foundation for the Talent Programme, the first barrier-free career initiative in the German-speaking region for students and professionals with disabilities or chronic illnesses. The EPO began working with myAbility eight years ago and has been hosting matching events with them for four years.
