Unemployment level for individuals with disabilities reaches a crisis point

People with disabilities represent the largest American minority group, yet they still suffer an astonishingly high rate of unemployment (65 percent). In fact, new research from the Bobby Dodd Institute (BDI) has revealed that nearly 50 percent of all workers in Atlanta, Georgia alone believe that unemployment among people with physical and mental disabilities has reached a crisis point.

Many are unaware (as was I) of the fact that October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month. And even more are unaware of the staggering unemployment that plagues America’s disabled.

So why are such a high percentage of disabled individuals unemployed in the United States? There are many reasons, all of which have to do with the barriers, both real and perceived, that prevent disabled candidates from being hired. According to Atlanta's workforce, the following barriers top the list of reasons why employers are reluctant to hire disabled individuals:

• Lack of knowledge. Respondents to the Atlanta survey identified lack of knowledge about accommodating people with disabilities (54 percent) and lack of knowledge about people with disabilities in general (52 percent) as the primary deterrents to hiring and employment. In fact, when respondents were asked to identify which groups of people the term "equal opportunity" applied to, only 2 percent of respondents included "workers with disabilities."

• Accommodation concerns. Survey respondents also referred to concerns over cost for workplace adjustments and accommodations (46 percent) as a barrier to hiring individuals with disabilities.

• Concerns about job performance and abilities. Respondents felt that among the reasons why disabled persons aren't hired more often is that both employers and coworkers alike may perceive that they cannot adequately perform required work duties (27 percent).

While it is unfortunate that many employers lack knowledge about accommodating people with disabilities and about disabled individuals, might I suggest that they perform some due diligence on the subjects? A simple visit to the US Department of Labor’s website can help employers learn about what they can do to make reasonable accommodations for their disabled employees.

And as far as lacking knowledge about disabled individuals, just ask a disabled individual what you would like to know. Scurrying around the issue of a disability is offensive to most disabled individuals, the majority of whom just want to be treated like everyone else.

For those employers who lack knowledge about what accommodations for disabled individuals are and how much they really cost, let me summarize. With very little investment, companies can provide meaningful employment opportunities for disabled workers, as the average cost of a workplace accommodation for an individual with a disability is less than $500. (US Department of Labor)

Finally, when it comes to dispelling employers’ concerns about job performance and abilities, research has shown time and time again that adequate or better performance of job duties correlates to long-term job retention. A national survey by DuPont shows that disabled workers have a higher retention rate than their non-disabled peers, which means that it is highly likely that these disabled individuals perform at or beyond the level of their non-disabled peers.

Employers need to start realizing the benefits of hiring workers with disabilities. The bottom line benefits of employing workers with disabilities far outweigh initial accommodation costs, and as the nation’s largest minority group, disabled individuals as a whole in the US have an estimated $1 trillion in aggregate consumer spending power. And the research shows that disabled persons are loyal in their consumptions of goods and services from companies that hire disabled individuals. New BDI research shows that 90 percent of Atlanta workers would be loyal to a business that has a track record of hiring individuals with disabilities.

Is there a company in the United States that wouldn’t want 90 percent of a $1 trillion market?