Developing Relationships With Employers Means Considering the Competitive Business Environment and the Risks It Produces

Abstract

This study describes a series of focus groups conducted with employers. A series of 10 focus groups was conducted in 10 different communities in a midwestern state, with small, medium, and large communities represented. A total of 67 participants, representing human resources offices and direct supervisors, responded to questions regarding problems they faced in recruiting, selecting, training, accommodating, and promoting workers. Follow-up questions asked how the diversity and disability of job seekers affected these problems. Responses yielded several themes regarding their view of these problems, offering a frame from within which rehabilitation providers can better understand the issues facing employers. Fundamental to employers' concerns were the risks they took and the nature of the labor market that contributed to those risks.

The employer's perspective: employment of people with disabilities in wage subsidized employments

“…This can also have profound implications for career opportunities in the workplace (Colella and Varma 1999). A fruitful way of dealing with this issue might be to educate and support employers in ways to promote future workability during an employment, given that employers see lack of resources to retain people with disabilities as a barrier to employment ) and because they express the need for assistance in identifying appropriate workplace accommodations (Stensrud 2007).…”

Disability Diversity Training in the Workplace: Systematic Review and Future Directions

“…A quarter century since the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, employment rates for people with disabilities remain relatively unchanged, and employers' views of disability as problematic in the workplace persist [1][2][3][4][5]. Recent workforce development legislation has placed increased attention on employment for people with disabilities by calling upon state vocational rehabilitation (VR) agencies to emphasize job-driven training, better working relationships with employers, and to provide greater support to employers [6].…”

“…This may reflect a fundamental difference in perceptions of disability and other forms of diversity. After conducting focus groups with employers on the topics of diversity and disability, Stensrud [5] observed that participants ''viewed disability differently from diversity because they saw disability as a problem to be accommodated rather than a difference to be celebrated (p. 234).''…”

Employer Attitudes Towards the Work Inclusion of People With Disability

“…). The current economic crisis businesses are undergoing is associated with fewer investments in human capital, reducing hiring opportunities thereby, especially for people considered unable to continually meet high productivity standards (Stensrud ). Specifically in the Italian context, data on the impact of the economic crisis reveal a severe drop in the number of disabled workers hired, with a 2‐year hiring reduction of 34% (National Institute of Statistics ).…”