When you are unemployed and looking for a job, both non-disabled and disabled people can struggle find a job find employment, especially if you are fresh out of college or are in my situation and don’t have a college degree. It can be difficult for anyone to find a job, but it is even more challenging when you are disabled because employers often look at you and think you are less capable than non-disabled people, and the unemployment rate is higher amongst disabled people. Disabled people need more money than non-disabled people because we have health challenges that a non-disabled person does not have. Disabled people have to make money and pay bills just like everyone else, but it can be hard when employers discriminate and won’t give you a chance. Disabled people can be very valuable in the workplace, and I wish employers understood that having a disabled employee doesn’t hold you back, but it can help grow your business. Why should businesses hire a disabled employee? In this post, I am going to share a few reasons why businesses should have at least one disabled employee.
It shows you are inclusive- Many businesses will swear that they are inclusive to avoid a lawsuit, but do not have a single disabled employee. I have a hard time believing business owners who say they are inclusive but refuse to hire disabled people, because if you were truly inclusive, you would have disabled employees. When you have disabled employees, it shows me that you are trying to be inclusive and aren’t just saying that because it sounds good and you don’t want to be sued. I will always support a business that shows they are trying to be inclusive by hiring disabled people, and I am more likely to tell my friends about your business even if you don’t always get it right the first time. Disability inclusion is so important for businesses to consider because accessibility benefits both disabled and non-disabled people. If you are providing a service that could benefit disabled people, it’s so important that you prioritize accessibility because I am not going to tell my friends about your business if I can’t access it. Hire disabled people because you can’t say you’re inclusive if you treat your disabled employee poorly or refuse to hire them in the first place. I wish businesses understood how many more customers you could get by simply being inclusive.
We can teach you how to make your business more accessible– As a disabled person, I will shop at stores that are a little inaccessible, but I will not give my money to stores that are so inaccessible that I can barely navigate because it infuriates me. I will not shop at an American Eagle for myself, nor will I buy a gift for someone else at that store, because I had a bad experience shopping experience where the store was so inaccessible I could barely get through the front door, which makes me so angry for disabled people. Non-disabled people do not understand accessibility to the extent a disabled person does, which is why every business needs a disabled employee who can teach them what it means to be accessible. I think that the reason a lot of businesses are so inaccessible isn’t always because they don’t want to, but a lot of the time, people think they are accessible when they are not. If you hire a disabled person, we can help make your business more accessible, which will increase your sales because disabled people are more likely to shop at accessible businesses.
Disabled people sometimes are more reliable– People often think that disabled people are less reliable and will call out of work all the time because it is often believed that disabled people are sick all the time, but that is only true for some people. Disabled people sometimes are more reliable because it’s more expensive to be disabled, and we need more money to pay for medical supplies. Are you struggling to find a reliable employee? Hire a disabled person because, depending on what disability we have, sometimes we are more reliable and take less sick days than non-disabled people.
We have different skills- When it comes to disability, people often focus on all the things disabled people can’t do and assume we are incapable of everything. There are things that my disability prevents me from doing, but because of my disability, there are some skills that I have that non-disabled people don’t. My disability has forced me to learn how to do things in a different way to accommodate my disability. Disabled people have different skills than non-disabled people because we need to have certain skills to be able to navigate an inaccessible world. I am different, but that is not always a bad thing because my disability gives me skills that non-disabled people do not have that could be beneficial in the workplace.
Disabled people in the workplace can be so valuable because we can help business owners make their businesses more accessible, which would improve sales and connect with customers in ways that non-disabled people can’t. People sometimes think that hiring a disabled person holds them back because it is often assumed that we can’t do the job as effectively as non-disabled people. There are some types of jobs I can’t do because of my disability, but I can do my job just as effectively as a non-disabled person if it’s accessible. We need more disability representation in the workplace, and the only way you are going to get that is by hiring disabled people and by stopping assuming my abilities without asking. Disabled people struggle to get and stay employed because people make wrongful assumptions about us, but that could change if employers hired people based on their skills rather than their disability. Why do you think businesses should hire disabled people? If you liked this post, please leave a comment below and share it with your friends.
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