Put Your Fear Aside and Hire Those with Disabilities

Those that you come across that have disabilities might be the hardest working and most appreciating people that you ever see in your life. Not only do a lot of them overcome their personal issues, but they also come across the issues that those put in their way to succeed and feel achievement while doing so. The workplace as a whole has grown more diverse, and there are not a lot of jobs that those with intellectual disabilities such as autism are able to get. There are studies that show around 80 percent of these people are unemployed, and those that are employed are paid less than normal intellectual people. There continues to be a stigma surrounding these people with disabilities – a lot of the employers feel that when they hire and accommodate these individuals might cost them more money in the long run. However, there continues to be more progress throughout the workforce to correct this problem.

Walgreen Co. is one of the companies that are continuing to make a difference when it comes to hiring those with disabilities. They were hoping that 33 percent of these workers have disabilities, are paid the same as normal workers and are treated the same as well. They have actually exceeded this number and now have 40 percent of their company as disabled workers. They are hoping to recruit more people with disabilities with a new program. “People think accommodations will be expensive and daunting,” Russell said. “What we found, especially on the accommodations front, is that it’s minimal. Over the thousands of people we’ve had in the distribution centers, we’ve spent less than $50 per person. A lot of the time, all the accommodation they need is an open mind.”