Almost Half of Business Leaders Believe There Aren’t Enough Candidates With a Disability Despite Over 1 Million Disabled People Wanting to Work

– According to new research conducted by the Valuable 500, 47% of businesses believe there aren’t enough candidates with a disability, however, research in the UK shows there are 1M disabled people who want to work but are being denied the opportunity

– The research highlights how misconceptions, lack of representation and taboos are still playing a huge role in recruitment policies

– Research also showed that almost two thirds (63%) of businesses didn’t know how many people within their organisation identify as disabled

Global business collective, the Valuable 500, announces new research showing that almost half of businesses believe that a key barrier to the recruitment and retention of disabled employees is the lack of candidates.

This contrasts evidence from government figures showing that there are one million disabled people in the UK who can and want to work but are being denied the opportunity.  The data, highlighted by Virgin Media and Scope with their ground-breaking campaign was supported by an Opinium survey of 2,000 disabled people which found that when applying for jobs only half of applications result in an interview, compared with 69% for non-disabled applicants. 2021 Government figures show that the disability employment gap sits at 28.4%, a decrease year on the year by just 0.7%. This shows a clear need for a shift away from misconceptions in recruitment.

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One major factor behind the lack of job candidates with disabilities could be attributed to lack of representation of disability inclusion.   It is often a forgotten aspect in the broader business agenda – particularly when it comes to business leadership where just 4% of CEOs have a disclosed disability.

Disabled people bring immense contribution to business and society as a whole, making up 15% of the global population, they bring diversity of thought, lived experience and a wealth of talent, all vital for business sustainability.

Christophe Catoir, President of Adecco who is a member of the Valuable 500, explains : “At Adecco, we intend to make the future work for everyone, and we really mean it. We have developed a sound culture of inclusion that enforces integration in the workplace for persons with disabilities across all our markets. With perseverance, we demonstrate every day that persons with disabilities are reliable, skilled and talented individuals with the potential to belong fully to the world of work in all industries and types of positions.”

Since reaching the goal of 500 organisations in May 2021, the Valuable 500 has launched phase 2 of the campaign and it has received the largest ever investment into disability business inclusion, with The Nippon Foundation investing $5 million to catalyse new Valuable 500 initiatives.

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Caroline Casey, Founder of the Valuable 500, commented:

“We are now entering 2022, and employers who have gone through two years of disruption are re-building and need to ensure that disability inclusion is at the heart of their agendas. What the research shows us today, is that whilst many companies are striving to do just this, we still have a lack of representation and businesses still have a long way to shift the dial truly and irreversibly on disability inclusion. 18% of the UK population have a disability and they need to be seen and heard.

“But more than this – we need to strive to fundamentally transform the global business system and fight for an inclusive society.  At some point in our lives, every single one of us will experience disability and we all have a responsibility to make humanity function better.”

Paul Polman, Chairman of the Valuable 500, commented:

“Having a diverse and inclusive workforce is a powerful driver for improved company performance, and this must extend to including people with disabilities. It’s not only the right thing to do, but also the smart and profitable thing to do for any business leaders looking to unlock talent, boost innovation and build a culture of trust, respect and inclusion throughout the company.

“We’ve seen progress in recent years as the biggest business groups across the globe have signed up to disability inclusion commitments through the Valuable 500. 2022 must bring faster action to close the disability employment gap once and for all.”

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