Reframing the conversation
Broadly, advocates say there needs to be a shift in our understanding of the “workforce pipeline” concept. It’s as much about working with businesses to attract and support disabled workers as it is about working with disabled individuals to develop their skills and find a good fit for employment.
“Previous administrations have had workforce councils for people with disabilities, but the problem with those councils was there were no businesses on them,” said Sharon Denson, executive director at Disability:IN Connecticut. She said she’s “totally impressed” with Gov. Ned Lamont’s workforce council because it includes leaders from the business community.
Denson’s organization works with many large companies — including Travelers, Sikorsky and Walgreens — to tap what she calls the “invisible talent pool” of persons with disabilities. They’ve implemented best practices like refining job descriptions, conducting interviews in different formats and offering more flexible work schedules. And the results have been very successful, Denson said.
“It’s so important that companies keep up with those trends if they want to have a full workforce,” she said.
Over the last two years, many companies learned that in real time. With each surge of the pandemic, businesses had to adjust and accommodate their individual employees’ needs. Colleagues took turns stepping in to help each other out. And many workers who felt unappreciated or whose jobs couldn’t flex the way they needed them to simply decided to move on.
Win Evarts, executive director of advocacy group The Arc of Connecticut, said he hopes the state’s new labor force initiatives will drive workplace practices that are more inclusive.
“Connecticut, for an awful long time, seemed to be sort of tonedeaf to being inclusive,” Evarts said. “The more that we can move toward inclusive communities, in general, the better the state of Connecticut is going to do.”
Evarts said one way the workforce pipeline initiative would work well is by providing an avenue for employers to “broadcast” their needs to folks who might be looking for work.
“It would be very good for families and service providers for people inside the safety net to understand what kind of skills are in demand in certain regions of the state,” Evarts said. That could help direct programming for individuals in employment support programs, leading to the best possible matches between companies and prospective employees, he said.