Why Disabled Jobseekers Still Struggle to Find Work

Disabled jobseekers are employed less and paid less worldwide, compared to non-disabled people. Despite all the steps we have taken towards equality over the decades, there remains a significant employment gap between disabled and non-disabled people. 

Even in our modern day of 2022, disabled jobseekers disproportionately struggle to find (and keep) stable employment. 

Why?

Let’s discuss. 

Physically Inaccessible Workspaces

First up, a major issue that disabled jobseekers have is the physical environments in which jobs take place. 49% of disabled people surveyed by Scope stated that they feel excluded from society because of their disability or impairment. An important aspect of this is that there remain so many physical places that are inaccessible to a range of disabilities. 

If you cannot access a building, then you cannot work there. And this poses many unnecessary barriers to disabled people. 

Employers can use financial support avenues such as the Access to Work programme to increase the accessibility of their workplace. Through this scheme, employers can claim back the money they have spent on increasing accessibility through ramps, handrails, and many more types of physical support. Unfortunately, many employers still either choose not to do so or are unaware of the service. 

Inaccessible Application Processes 

As well as physical inaccessibility, many disabled jobseekers come up against inaccessible application processes. Application forms, recruitment portals, and interviews themselves can all be inaccessible to a range of disabilities. Especially those including vision problems, processing disorders, learning difficulties, and spectrum disorders including autism. 

If it is inaccessible for someone to complete an application form, they will not be able to accurately demonstrate their skills and qualities to a potential employer. This means, in turn, that they will be less likely to be considered for the job. It doesn’t mean that they wouldn’t be able to do the job or that their skills aren’t suited for the role. It simply means that the application process excluded them unfairly.

We always need to be aware of how application processes can affect disabled people. It might be easier to debut a recruitment portal that doesn’t include alternative formats but all it does is discriminate against potentially great candidates and further the disability employment gap.

Inflexibility of Employers

Many employers in the U.K. remain inflexible with the needs and wants of disabled employees. For a disabled person, flexibility in work can make a significant difference. Whether this be in working hours, job responsibilities, deadlines, or so on, flexibility can take a great deal of pressure and strain away from a disabled employee.

Many disabilities and conditions cause inconsistency in symptoms. Many people have “flare-ups” or periods of time where they feel more ill or present more symptoms than others. This can be true of many disabilities, ranging from MS, bipolar disorder, autism, and so on. 

The more flexibility employers can offer, the easier it will be for disabled people to do their job and to keep it for a longer period of time. 

Discrimination, Exclusion, and Bias

Unfortunately, it is still the case that a significant number of disabled jobseekers in the U.K. face discrimination, exclusion, and bias as a result of their disability. Some people are outwardly discriminatory towards disabled people, and others are more implicit. Or even unaware as they deal with unconscious biases. 

These issues can present themselves in every aspect of employment, including recruitment. A crucial aspect of recruitment to consider is that of any potential discrimination and bias existing in the people who make decisions. If you have a panel riddled with unconscious bias, the decisions you make will be unequal. We need to consider this so that fair, equal, and diverse decisions to be made in a workplace. 

Bias and exclusion can also present themselves in a range of recruitment processes, such as the language in job adverts, the accessibility of the job board to which they are posted, and so on. There are too many chances for a disabled person to be excluded throughout recruitment. It can easily happen right under our noses. 

If we don’t actively work to tackle these ideas and challenge them, then these more negative aspects can continue indefinitely. We all need to be aware of how common these attitudes can still be and we need to work on changing this together. If we don’t, disabled people will continue to be at a significant advantage.

Find Your Solution at Careers with Disabilities 

At Careers with Disabilities, we believe that all disabled people should have the chance to work wherever they want. We want to increase the accessibility involved with disabled jobseekers looking for work. As such, we have many tools and resources available for disabled jobseekers.

You can check our guides, blogs, and Disability Advice Hub to find the support and guidance you need. 

Then, you can take a look at our live disability-friendly job board on which we post accessible, inclusive and diverse jobs just for you.

If you need anything else from us, don’t hesitate to get in touch.