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Home / Washington Business - January/February 2005 / Workforce Washington: Succeed With Disabled Employees |
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Workforce Washington: Succeed With Disabled Employees |
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Written On: January/February 2005 |
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Written By: by Mike Hudson |
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In spite of all the hysteria about outsourcing jobs overseas, in the next 15 to 20 years the United States faces a shortage of skilled workers.
In February 2003, the 102nd American Assembly, sponsored by Columbia University, predicted that:
“…the American workforce is expected to grow by only half of its earlier pace: There will be no growth of native-born workers in their prime working years; the percentage of the labor force composed of four-year college graduates is predicted to stagnate over the next two decades; the number of workers with two-year degrees and skill certificates will fall far short of the economy’s needs.”
We’ve have seen these kinds of shortages before. At the beginning of the 20th century the industrial revolution created huge labor shortages. Business drew farm workers to the factories and tapped into a massive pool of immigrants. During World War II, women replaced men on the assembly lines and shop floors. Women again returned to the workforce in the 1970s and filled the jobs created by an expanding economy.
Both those sources of educated, skilled workers have been drained.
People with disabilities represent possibly the last untapped pool of educated, experienced and motivated skilled workers available. According to a new pamphlet, “Disability Employment 101,” published by The Center for Workforce Success, there are compelling reasons to hire people with disabilities:
• Employees with disabilities are dependable, dedicated and hard working (people with disabilities have an 85 percent one-year retention rate).
• People with disabilities possess valuable problem-solving skills because they are experts in finding creative ways to perform tasks others take for granted.
• Employees with disabilities reflect the customer base of disabled people and can help craft effective marketing strategies to reach this market.
Many disabled people are veterans. The Seattle Veterans Affairs Regional Office has vocational rehabilitation and employment counselors whose goal is to help disabled veterans find employment. This assistance includes help to complete college and get training and providing prosthetics, wheel chairs, computers and other equipment that enables a veteran to function.
Some employers fear that hiring people with disabilities opens them up to greater liability or increased costs. The facts say otherwise. A March of 2003 survey showed that 73 percent of employers report their employees with disabilities did not require accommodations at all. Those employers that did have to make accommodations spent $500 or less. The same survey pointed out that employees with disabilities have better retention rates, reducing turnover costs.
Several programs exist to assist employers in hiring people with disabilities. These range from tax credits to paying for job-specific training and/or equipment that may be required for an adequate accommodation.
AWB has partnered with the Washington State Department of Veterans Affairs and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to insure that all Washington employers know about the potential of disabled veterans. AWB also works with other state and non-governmental agencies to assist in the hiring of disabled non-veterans. For a free copy of “Disability Employment 101” contact me at: mikeh@awb.org or log on to www.awb.org/workforcedevelopment for more information on hiring workers with disabilities.
In the future, hiring disabled workers may keep your company from becoming disabled.
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