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Hiring People with Disabilities?

Probably Not, Says Poll

Special Report From: EasySmallBusinessHR.com

Is hiring people with disabilities on your radar? Maybe…or maybe

not, according to a nationwide poll of more than 400 senior execs

and HR managers. The survey, a joint effort from the Kessler

Foundation and the National Organization on Disability (NOD),

found that few companies report hiring people with disabilities or

implementing the programs that integrate these employees into

their workforce.

Here are a few of the revealing findings from the 2010 survey:

2% of employees hired within the last 3 years had disabilities

(note: only about half of the survey respondents provided an

estimate.)

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70% of participants offer diversity programs or policies, yet

only 66% of those firms include disability in the workplace as

an element.

18% of the businesses provide education to help current staff

start working with people with disabilities.

7% of the companies offering an “employees with disabilities”

program also had a group charged with raising disability

awareness within the workplace.

How much progress has been made with disability in the

workplace?

Despite the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act, evidence

suggests little progress has been made when it comes to hiring

those with challenges. For example, in 1995 40% of firms had a

point person tasked with overseeing the hiring people with

disabilities, compared with just 19% today.

In addition, among people with disabilities only 21% between ages

18 and 64 hold a full- or part-time position—a sharp contrast to

59% of people who do not have disabilities. Researchers at the

Kessler Foundation, a charity focused on improving the lives of

those with physical disabilities, said this was an indication of just

how little progress has been made in the last two decades.

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Working with people with disabilities benefits your bottom line.

To stay ahead of the competition in a globalized economy,

companies need to tap into talent—no matter shape it might take.

As a manager or HR professional, it’s time to leverage the skills

and talent that people with disabilities offer. You can successfully

integrate staff members with disabilities onto your team.

Your next star employee is out there.

Don’t wait any longer to tap into this underutilized pool of skill

and talent. Who knows what will happen if you emphasize hiring

people with disabilities? That applicant with a disability might just

become the employee who generates a new revenue stream or

saves the company from missing a profitable opportunity.

To learn more about employer responsibilities in the workplace

and other issues regarding disability in the workplace, visit the

U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment

Policy.

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