An Untapped Resource – Workers with Disabilities
John Lambo - Feb 04 2022Individuals with disabilities are seen as key resource in a tight job market
Historically, workers with disabilities have had a much higher unemployment rate than workers who don’t report a disability. Employers have typically not sought out individuals with disabilities due in part to the often inaccurate perception that they cannot perform tasks as quickly or accurately as their non-disabled peers. But the unemployment rate for the disabled dropped almost 5% from December 2020 to December 2021—faster than that of persons without disabilities as companies have sought to meet increasing workforce needs and meet goals for workplace diversity, equity, and inclusion.
There are bottom-line business reasons for recruiting people with disabilities. Research from small businesses to Fortune 500 companies demonstrates consistent benefits to organizations, including employee retention, higher productivity and morale, and reduced workers’ compensation and training costs. Many organizations have launched programs to recruit people from the disabled community since the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act made it illegal to discriminate against the disabled and required “reasonable accommodations” in the workplace. Companies such as Microsoft have embraced inclusive hiring with a neurodiversity program and creating a network of partners with vendors and local employment agencies.
As the labor market has grown tighter in 2021, employers are taking a more proactive role in creating an attractive environment for job candidates with disabilities. This shift includes making new accommodations to open jobs to people with disabilities and focusing on the skills required to do a job well. Retail and other sectors with high turnover have found that disabled employees can be more loyal and likely to stay at jobs that have been tailored to them. But disabled people are demonstrating effectiveness in the ranks of white-collar workers as well. As an example, Microsoft has hired many people with autism as software engineers where attention to detail is a valuable skill.
Customized Employment
This new and improved way of successfully matching employees with jobs is known as Customized Employment became a part of federal law with the passage of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) in 2014.
Customized Employment is an interest-based negotiation between the job seeker and employer. It is a process that allows individuals with disabilities and employers the opportunity to negotiate job tasks and/or reassign job duties to improve overall contribution in the workplace. For employers, customized employment allows an employer to examine its specific workforce needs and fulfill those needs with an employee’s specific skills.
Because Customized Employment is predicated on a “negotiation” between the job seeker (or his/her representative) and the employer, the means of securing the job differs from the traditional approach of applying, interviewing, orienting, and working. The negotiation is not just about salary and hours, but also about the process itself, often beginning with only the potential of a job but no formal position opening.
Customized Employment recognizes that suitable employment for individuals with disabilities is not always found on online job boards or signs in shop windows. Customizing the relationship between employers and job seekers can offer an effective alternative. By getting beyond comparative, competitive evaluation strategies recruiters can benefit from a more person-focused strategy.
By assessing the potential employee’s strengths, interests and needs first, the employer is able to tailor the job content and environment to maximize the contribution the candidate can make to the organization. Customized Employment is a way of creating opportunity for both the candidate and an employer that wouldn’t otherwise exist.
Job components that can be negotiated include:
- Alternative application methods
- Adjusted schedules
- Equipment requirements
- Location preferences
- Learning techniques
- Specific tasks
- Job coaching
A discovery phase is the first step in Customized Employment. Discovery is a form of qualitative research that identifies an individual's strengths, weaknesses, and conditions of employment to create meaningful work and a customized fit. Financial and budget considerations are also considered during the employer discovery process.
Amazon has a dedicated team in place to assist individuals with disabilities in the hiring and onboarding processes. Amazon’s “Accommodation Consultants” provide a range of accommodations including sign language interpreters, site navigation assistance, screen reader and magnification tools, voice dictation software, and other assistive technologies. Amazon also partners with State Vocational Rehabilitation Agencies and welcomes support from job coaches and orientation and mobility specialists to support employees from application to on-the-job support.
Other companies that utilize customized employment to hire and support individuals with disabilities include Ernst & Young, Starbucks, Northrup Grumman, and AT&T.
Customized Employment is designed to be a “win-win” for the company as well as the employee. The customized employment process provides the business with
- Greater employee satisfaction
- Reliable and dependable employees
- A reduction in recruitment and hiring processes
- Increased employee retention
- Enhanced diversity
- Increase tax benefits
- A universal strategy that can be used to serve any applicant or employee with barriers to employment and/or advancement, not just individuals with disabilities.
Whether seeking to meet immediate labor needs or make a more enduring shift in recruitment policy, the first step is to evaluate employment recruitment processes to determine if people with disabilities are inadvertently being screened out. The US Department of Labor offers basic resources for hiring people with disabilities. The Campaign for Disability Employment is another source for information ranging from local networks and tax incentives to tips on creating an inclusive workplace.