One of the silver linings of the current labor market turmoil facing employers is that those who are looking for work have found greater opportunities than perhaps at any other point in their careers. Notably, that includes groups of traditionally marginalized individuals, such as those with disabilities.
New Opportunities Emerging
“People with disabilities have been among the greatest beneficiaries of the strong post-pandemic rebound in the labor market,” writes Rob Wile in an article for NBC News. “And on Friday [July 7], the Bureau of Labor Statistics added another data point to this trend. Among that group, the number of employed individuals climbed by approximately 175,000 in June to 7.6 million, the BLS said, higher than at any point since June 2008, the earliest year for which data is available.”
While increased employment among those with disabilities is a positive sign, it’s also important to consider where that job growth has been occurring. “Data showing which industries or occupations have seen the biggest recent gains in the ranks of workers with disabilities is hard to come by,” says Wile. “Historically, this population’s labor has been concentrated in different forms of retail work, as well as manual labor jobs in food preparation or cleaning services.”
Challenges Remain
A couple of important challenges remain for disabled people seeking greater opportunities in the workforce, however. For one, there remains a stigma over disabilities that may prevent even short-staffed companies from giving adequate consideration to disabled workers. This same stigma creates a significant reporting challenge when it comes to tracking employment among disabled people.
“It’s important to note here that the disabled community is highly varied,” says Wile. “Disability advocates estimate one-quarter of the U.S. population lives with a disability, but that 70% of disabilities, especially those that are cognitive in nature, are defined as ‘invisible.’ Yet, disabled people continue to face outsized barriers to employment. As a result, just 4% of workers self-identify as disabled.”
Finally, transportation can be a challenge for many disabled individuals. None of these challenges are by any means insurmountable, however, and employers should give careful consideration to expanding their recruitment efforts to tap into previously untapped talent pools.
Lin Grensing-Pophal is a Contributing Editor at HR Daily Advisor.
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