Written by Astriid Volunteer Sabeeha Kassam
Evenbreak and YouGov surveyed 3,000 disabled people on their views on the following three questions:
- What is their biggest barrier to employment?
- When do they disclose their disability?
- What are their attitudes towards employers?
Here’s what you need to know about the answers from disabled people about their views on employment.
Employment barriers
- 23% replied that they felt mentioning their disability would put them at a disadvantage.
- 24% raised self-confidence as a barrier.
- 18% reported no barriers to employment.
To disclose or not to disclose
- 23% would choose to disclose during the application process.
- 22% would not disclose.
- 12% would disclose at the interview.
Views on employers
- 30% reported they felt employers only hired disabled people if they needed to fill a quota.
- 27% answered that they felt employers would hire the right person for the job regardless of their having a disability.
In conclusion, there are 14.1 million disabled people in the UK of which 52% are in employment. These statistics above highlight that disabled people are facing barriers to employment not experienced by the non-disabled candidates they are competing with.
This stress of deciding when to reveal a disability is a hard balancing act. Do disabled people risk disclosing their disability and potentially facing stigma and discrimination for the support and adjustments they rightly deserve to keep them in the workplace? Or do they remain silent?
Written by Astriid Volunteer Sabeeha Kassam
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Here at Astriid, we match talented people with long-term conditions with meaningful work. We also help employers and line managers to recognise the untapped talent pool in people with Energy Limiting Conditions, and become more inclusive in their workplace practice. You can find some of our own candidates’ views on employment in our Employment and Long-Term Illness Research Report!