5 Things You Need to Know About Hiring People with Disabilities

This July we celebrated the 34th anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and employment of people with disabilities continues to be disproportionately higher than for those who do not have a disability. Yet the evidence is continuing to grow in support of hiring people with disabilities.

  1. Companies with disability inclusive hiring practices are continuing to become more profitable than their peers.1

Companies who engage talent programs that tap into the talent pool of people with disabilities, foster a welcoming and inclusive culture, and focus on equity in access generally experience 1.6x more revenue, 2.6x more net income, and 2x more economic profit. Meaning that people with disabilities represent a largely untapped labor pool that has the potential to offer a high return on investment.

  1. Companies who hire people with disabilities experience increased productivity and innovation.1

Hiring people with disabilities has been shown to have a positive impact on the workforce of inclusive employers. Teams become more collaborative and productive. People with disabilities bring unique perspective about how they interact with their community which increases innovation and adds another approach to problem resolution.

  1. Employees with disabilities have been found to be more aspirational than their nondisabled peers.2

People with disabilities are invested in their careers and the success of their employers. However, too frequently employers overlook the aspirations of their employees with disabilities, missing out on tapping into the full potential of this talent pool. Employees with disabilities feel excluded in the workplace 60% more often than employees without disabilities.

  1. Over half of accommodation requests cost nothing.3

Research continues to show that the costs of accommodation are minimal compared to the positive impact of hiring people with disabilities. In fact, 56% of employers indicated that there was no cost to providing their employee an accommodation and another 37% reported that there was only a one-time cost with a median expenditure of $300. Moreover, 88% of employers experienced some level of effectiveness of implemented accommodations, with 67% reporting accommodations to be effective or extremely effective.

  1. Nearly 100% of companies who have hired a person with a disability from Bender Consulting Servies have hired a second person with a disability.

Since its inception in 1995, nearly 30 years ago, Bender has focused solely on providing services to employers to support the hiring and engagement of people with disabilities. A first of its kind consulting firm, Bender, was founded on the belief that if employers gave people with disabilities a chance to prove themselves in the workplace, they would be successful. An assertion that continues to be proven year after year. Bender’s talent pool is comprised of candidates with disabilities with in-demand education and experience. Bender has filled job roles in the public and private sectors ranging from STEM, human resources, diversity, equity, and inclusion, communications, procurement, health care, project management, and other business roles on a national level. Across the board, Bender has found that once an employer engages a candidate with a disability from Bender, they will hire a second candidate.

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Sources:

  1. Getting to Equal: The Disability Inclusion Imperative, Accenture
  2. Enabling Change, Accenture
  3. Costs and Benefits of Accommodation, Job Accommodation Network