Breaking down the barriers to employment

With nearly half of UK businesses (45 per cent) being apprehensive about hiring someone with a disability because of concerns that they wouldn’t be able to do the job, British employers are worsening an already discriminatory employment system for the disabled.

Despite the fact that 19 per cent of the working population are disabled, disabled people are more than twice as likely to be unemployed as non-disabled people according to Labour Force Survey April to June 2016 by Office for National Statistics.

So why do some employers seem to be so hesitant in hiring disabled people?

Not-for-profit disability organisation Purple is highlighting how daunting the employment process can be for employees with disabilities who are cautious about moving roles because of the barriers and stereotypes.

Purple’s recent nationwide survey of one thousand businesses, also discovered a fifth of hiring managers (22 per cent) admitted they were worried about interviewing someone with a disability in case they do or say the wrong thing.

Other fears which were expressed by interviewers also included using incorrect terminology (32 per cent) and not knowing whether they should help with things such as opening doors or pulling out chairs (38 per cent).

“We know changing jobs with new responsibilities and colleagues is a scary prospect for anyone, but this is even more complicated for disabled workers who might find themselves facing attitudinal barriers with prospective employers,” says Purple Chief Executive and disability equality champion, Mike Adams OBE.

Disabled workers do have needs – and despite societal progress, disability discrimination is one of the worst examples of inequality facing the world.

Take India for example – there are 70 million people in the country with a disability – however, only around 100,000 are actually in employment, according to Disabled World.

“There is still much more work to be done to change opinion and we need to understand and respond systematically to disabled workers’ needs,” Mike continues.

Prejudice in interviews and physical barriers in the workplace are still preventing many employers hiring people with disabilities and the result frequently ends with businesses losing out on qualified members of staff and as a consequence, money.

“There is still much more work to be done to change opinion, and we need to understand and respond systematically to disabled workers’ needs” Mike Adams OBE Chief Executive, Purple