In The Politics of Autism, I discuss the employment of adults with autism and other developmental disabilities. Many posts have discussed programs to provide them with training and experience.
American employers favor an idealized and frankly imaginary employee, who is young, able-bodied, neurotypical and unchanging. The problem is this employee does not exist.
The reality is as many as 25% of job seekers and current employees are people with disabilities, with that number potentially surging as millions of Americans cope with long COVID-19. As leaders continue to grapple with the tight labor market and look at grim economic forecasts for the coming year, they will have to make careful investments to make sure all employees, including those with disabilities, can do their best work.
It is simply good business.
An Accenture study found that businesses that are leaders in disability employment and inclusion had on average 28% higher revenue, double the net income and 30% higher economic profit margins compared with their peers.
