Attracting and Retaining Workers

with Disabilities
As companies face a lack of qualified workers in many fields, individuals with disabilities
are being recognized as a source of engaged, committed employees. According to the
2019 Disability Statistics Annual Report from the Institute on Disability, nearly 1 in 8
people in the U.S. has a disability, and that number is rising annually.
"It's time we put our biases aside and put this untapped talent back to work,"
said Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., SHRM-SCP, president and chief executive officer of the
Society for Human Resource Management at the SHRM 2019 Annual Conference &
Exposition.

WAYS TO RECRUIT WORKERS WITH

DISABILITIES INCLUDE:
• Post open positions at job service and workforce employment centers.
• Contact college and university career centers.
• Partner with disability-related advocacy organizations.
• Include people with disabilities in diversity recruitment goals.
• Post open positions or host tables/booths at disability-related job fairs.
• Establish summer internship and mentoring programs.
• Post open positions at independent living centers.

ACCORDING TO SHRM RESEARCH,

ONLY ABOUT 25%
OF ORGANIZATIONS HAVE EXPLICIT
GOALS FOR RECRUITING AND
HIRING PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES.
RESOURCES TO FIND QUALIFIED
APPLICANTS WITH DISABILITIES:
The Employer Assistance and Resource Network (EARN) is a resource for employers
seeking to recruit, hire and retain qualified employees with disabilities.

State vocational rehabilitation agencies provide counseling, evaluation and job

placement services for people with disabilities.
The Workforce Recruitment Program connects federal and private-sector employers
with college students and recent college graduates with disabilities.

A Resource Guide published by the federal cross-agency initiative, Curb Cuts to the
Middle Class, provides employers with tools and resources they need to recruit, hire,
retain and promote people with disabilities.

HOW TO MAKE YOUR WORKPLACE

ACCESSIBLE
Providing access to your workplace goes beyond making sure people who use canes or
wheelchairs can navigate stairs or doorways. Inclusive design means that people with
disabilities can also use websites and digital tools.

MORE THAN 70% OF

APPROXIMATELY 4 MILLION WORKING-AGE
ADULTS WITH VISUAL IMPAIRMENTS ARE
UNEMPLOYED.
SOURCE: THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND.

Companies' career websites should be inviting to people of all abilities. In addition to

people with visual and hearing impairments, people with cognitive or learning
disabilities can be challenged by complex navigation paths, captcha tests—used to
determine whether the webpage user is human—and fast webpage timeouts.

Common problems with online job applications include:

• Websites can't be navigated using screen readers that convert text to

speech. Many people with vision impairments rely on screen readers to
navigate websites.
• Websites can't be navigated using a keyboard instead of a mouse. People
who use screen readers, screen magnifiers and voice recognition use
keyboard commands instead of a mouse to navigate a website.
• Applications that rely on color are inaccessible to people who are
colorblind.
• Websites use images that don't have alternative text, making the images
inaccessible to individuals with vision impairments who use screen readers
to navigate websites.
• Videos lack captions, making the videos inaccessible to people who have
hearing impairments.
• Timed assessments in the application process prevented people with
cognitive disabilities or learning disabilities from completing applications.
• No contact information listed for technical support or to request an
accommodation, or no one responded to the contact information provided.

HOW TO REDUCE DISABILITY BIAS

MORE THAN 66% OF
WORKERS WITH
DISABILITIES HAVE
EXPERIENCED NEGATIVE BIAS.
SOURCE: THE CENTER FOR TALENT INNOVATION, 2017 STUDY.

Tips to reduce disability bias in an organization include:

• Ensure that information about people with disabilities is included in bias

training.
• Review job descriptions for language and requirements that might exclude
people with disabilities.
• Check career websites to ensure they're accessible.
• Adopt language in company policies and communications that encourages
self-identification.
 • Establish disability-focused employee resource groups rather than groups
only for people with disabilities. The former, broader group would include
any interested employees, such as those whose children have disabilities.
This will encourage people who have invisible disabilities to attend because
they won't feel they are disclosing their disability.
• Ask employees with disabilities to alert you to potential biases at all stages
of the employment cycle.
• Ensure all employees can participate in company events, and include
pictures of employees with disabilities on your website.

What are some common myths about hiring people with disabilities that impede
disability recruiting initiatives?

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Employing Abilities @ A partnership between the SHRM Foundation, SHRM and the
Work Workplace Initiative to help HR professionals and people
managers better understand how to build inclusive culture that
will hire, retain and advance employees with disabilities.

SHRM's Disability Offers news, articles and guides to help employers understand
Employment Resource the latest trends and best practices relating to employment of
Page people with disabilities.

The Recruitment and Comprehensive information for employers about recruiting and
Retention section of the hiring qualified applicants with disabilities.
Office of Disability
Employment Policy
(ODEP) website

Job Accommodation Dedicated to helping employers integrate or retain people with

Network (JAN) disabilities. It is a leading source of free, expert and confidential
guidance on workplace accommodations and disability
employment issues.
Disability Employment Shows disability status and labor force diversity for 4,000 local
Tabulation U.S. areas and information on the skills and availability of
people with disabilities, including details on occupation,
education and earnings.

Diversity Partners Provides free training resources to help connect employment

service professionals and employers with job seekers who have
disabilities.

Entry Point! A program offered by the American Association for the

Advancement of Science (AAAS) to pair students with
disabilities studying in STEM (science, technology, engineering
and mathematics) and business fields with employment
internships. AAAS has partners that support the program by
providing assistive technologies and other reasonable
accommodations and, in some cases, temporary relocation costs
if students must travel for the internship.

Emerging Leaders A summer internship program for current undergraduate and

graduate students with disabilities. Managed by the National
Business & Disability Council at the Viscardi Center, the
program places undergraduate and graduate college students
with disabilities into fulfilling internships with employers
nationwide.

Disability:IN Offers tools such as benchmarking for disability inclusion and

stock photos for public use. The Inclusion Works program
provides participating companies with virtual and onsite
consulting provided by a team of disability inclusion experts
and the Autism @ Work Playbook is a guide to finding talent
and creating meaningful employment opportunities for people
with autism.