Which Employers Offer Hope for Mainstream Job Opportunities for Disabled People?

Abstract

Employer reluctance to hire disabled people narrows the economic and vocational opportunities of disabled people. This study investigates employer hiring decisions to identify which mainstream employers are most likely to hire disabled people. The study reports findings from interviews with eighty-seven employers in urban and regional South Australia. Analysis reveals differences across groups of employers based on their previous hiring behaviour. Communication from employment support agencies should specifically address concerns of non-hirers and light hirers. Long-term financial concerns present strong but surmountable barriers to light hirers employing disabled people. Policy mitigating long-term employer concerns could attract employers to hire disabled people for the first time (non-hirers) or return to hiring (light hirers) disabled people. Negative employers (antagonists) and employers already sustaining ongoing workplace relationships with disabled people (loyals) have insurmountable reasons to not hire any (or more) disabled people and should not be targeted.

The Participation of People with Disabilities in the Workplace Across the Employment Cycle: Employer Concerns and Research Evidence

“…It has been suggested that even if people with disabilities eventually make it into applicant pools, hiring managers might incorrectly assume that these applicants do not want challenging careers or assignments (Perry, Hendricks, & Broadbent, 2000;Wilson-Kovacs et al, 2008). Worse, one prejudice that continues to affect people with disabilities is that they are perceived to not want to work at all (Hemphill & Kulik, 2016). These biases permeate decisions in all phases of the employment cycle.…”

Employers’ perspectives of including young people with disabilities in the workforce, disability disclosure and providing accommodations

“…Second, little is known about employers' experiences of providing accommodations to YWD. Most research has focused on their attitudes towards hiring people with disabilities and not their actual practices of hiring and including people with disabilities (Burke et al, 2013;Fraser et al, 2010;Hemphill & Kulik, 2015). Developing an understanding of disclosure and accommodations experiences can help young workers to succeed in finding and maintaining employment, especially at this critical early stage of their careers (Lindsay, Adams, et al, 2014;Lindsay, Cagliostro, et al, 2017).…”

Psychological support for professional development of people with disabilities and special needs: An overview

“…The second important set of problems includes assessing personal and professional potential of people with disabilities for hiring. One of the most common prejudices that affect people with disabilities and special needs is that they are perceived by employers as not willing to work at all [31]. Many employers hold poorly grounded stereotypical views on the potentials of people with disabilities that often permeate the entire work cycle.…”