Employers committed to the inclusion of qualified people with
disabilities in the competitive workplace and as consumers

Recruiting

Like individuals from many other minority groups, people with disabilities probably aren't typically well-represented amongst the job applicants that are attracted through a company's regular recruiting efforts. Companies that want to be more successful at hiring people with disabilities will likely have to develop some outreach recruiting strategies targeted directly at this group.

The resources in this section should help you to better position your company to attract applicants with disabilities.

 

Access Issues Accessible formats, environments, etc.	Partnerships Collaborating with disability organizations
Internships, Mentoring, etc. Developing contact	Targeted Recruiting Disability-focused resources
Upcoming Labor Shortage People with disabilities underutilized.	Special Feature: Hiring Disabled Veterans

ACCESS ISSUES

By their very design, your standard recruiting materials and methods could be excluding many people with disabilities from job opportunities with your company. If you want to effectively reach more applicants with disabilities, it would be worthwhile to review all of your recruiting communications and processes to ensure that they are designed and conducted to be accessible to people with all types of disabilities. Here are some examples of access-related issues that you may need to address:

• Surprisingly, many websites that list job openings are not designed to comply with basic accessibility standards. If you post your jobs on your own online site or on a commercial job posting site, you need to check this out. If the site is not accessible, you may be needlessly excluding talented people (particularly folks with visual impairments) from the opportunity to join your workforce.
• If your company attends or hosts recruiting events (e.g. job fairs) make sure that they are held in locations and environments that are accessible to folks who have mobility impairments.
• If you have recruiting materials such as brochures, application forms, etc. do you have them available in alternate formats (e.g. large print for people with visual impairments)?

Return to Top

PARTNERSHIPS

One of the most productive ways to recruit talent from the community of people with disabilities is to develop working partnerships with community organizations that train and/or support people with disabilities to advance their careers.

Return to Top

INTERNSHIPS, MENTORING, ETC.

Return to Top

TARGETED RECRUITING
 

THE OREGON EXPERIENCE   Tapping Fresh Talent - employer experiences at the 2007 OBLN Career and Job Fair - Nike, Kaiser Permanente, and PCC Structurals.   Quality Food Centers - How participation in the Business Leadership Network supports their commitment to diversity in recruiting.   Clark County, WA - Read how Clark County proactively employs five men with developmental disabilities.   Partners for Work - Read how the Rotary Club of Vancouver, WA promotes employment for people with disabilities though its program.   H.I.R.E. Program - (Hiring Individuals Ready for Employment) is Oregon's program to increase employment of people with disabilities in state government.   Portland General Electric - Read about the importance of workforce diversity from Peggy Fowler, CEO of   Kaiser Permanente Northwest - Read about the importance of including people with disabilities in the workplace from Sue Hennesy, Vice President for Health Plan Operations.   The Importance of "Transformational Leaders" from Steve Hanamura from Beaverton, OR RESOURCES   Targeted Recruiting: People With Disabilities (Article) It can be difficult to effectively target people with disabilities in your recruiting efforts. This article gives some practical advice and strategies to accomplish this.   RecruitABILITY - An initiative of disABLEDperson.com - free resume search and job posting service.   Employment Assistance Referral Network - Free service to link employers with job seekers from local placement agencies.   Partners for Work - How experienced Rotarians organize to encourage other employers to hire people with disabilities. Disabled Veterans   Warriors to Work - Wounded Warrior Project's Warriors to Work (WtoW) program helps individuals recovering from severe injuries received in the line of duty connect with the support and resources they need to build a career in the civilian workforce.   Hire Vets First - Website of the Department of Labor's Veterans' Employment and Training Service.

Return to Top

UPCOMING LABOR SHORTAGE

Businesses across North America are beginning to experience a shrinking pool of qualified job applicants. This labor shortage was predicted and we are only beginning to see its impact as the available labor force will continue to shrink. Happily, for proactive companies, people with disabilities represent a talented and largely untapped labor pool.

In December 2006, at an Oregon Business Plan event co-sponsored by the Oregon Business Leadership Network, a standing-room only audience of 250 industry leaders, policy makers and officials met to consider the challenges and opportunities presented by the projected labor shortages of the future. Entitled “The Coming Labor Shortage: What it Means for Oregon and Essential Strategies for your Business to Compete”. The Keynote address was given by Robert J. Grossman, a professor in the School of Management, Marist College, Poughkeepsie, NY where in addition to his teaching, he works as a state-certified arbitrator, mediator and consultant.

He told the audience, “A 2003 Work Trends study conducted at Rutgers University found that "people with physical and mental disabilities continue to be vastly underrepresented in the American workplace. In Oregon, there are 400,000+ working age people with disabilities. Of these 38 percent are out of the workforce compared to18.8 percent of people without disabilities. They include homemakers, students, retired persons, and people who describe themselves as unable to work.

The Rutgers survey revealed that many employers harbor misconceptions about workers with disabilities. One-third of the employers said that people with disabilities can't effectively perform the required job tasks. The second most common reason given for not hiring the disabled was the fear of costly accommodations.

Both assumptions are wrong. National job studies, including a 30-year analysis by DuPont de Nemours, show that people with disabilities have equal or higher performance ratings, better retention rates and less absenteeism. Among the Rutgers respondents who said they had actually hired workers with disabilities, three of four said no workplace changes were needed. Recent studies conducted by the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Disability Employment Policy show that 15% of accommodations cost nothing; 51% cost between $1 and $500.”

Return to Top