It is increasingly recognised that each person is different and should be able to ‘bring their whole selves’ to work as a result.
As at end June 2020, more than 4m disabled people were in work, but disabled people are more than twice as likely to be unemployed as non-disabled people, according to a Labour Force Survey.
Similarly, almost twice as many non-disabled people between 21-64 years had a degree than disabled people, while the number of disabled people with no qualifications was three times higher than non-disable people, meaning getting a job may be harder as a result.
Within the workplace, disabled people also face prejudice. Disability equality charity Scope found 32% of disabled people and 22% of non-disabled people feel there is a lot of disability prejudice, while one in three people see disabled people as being less productive than non-disabled people.
Investment industry group the Diversity Project has a disability workstream that has a particular focus around recruitment including changing attitudes to employing disabled people and therefore improving the hiring process.
Accept and respect
We must change our approach to people who have cognitive or physical disabilities to draw more attention to what they can do and achieve, rather than what they cannot do. From a diversity perspective, whether gifted or with challenges, we are all different and can and should all play a role and have purpose in society.
When it comes to hiring, how many firms or organisations employ physically disabled people, for example those in wheelchairs? Often no real thought is given to office layouts, physical space, or disabled facilities, making it easier to ignore this section of our population rather than thinking out of the box at how facilities can be altered to accommodate them.
The same is very often true of people with neurodiversity conditions, such as autism, bipolarity, dyslexia, for example, who are often able to bring strengths and abilities to any organisation can therefore bring different types of benefits accordingly.
Within an increased focus on diversity and inclusion in the investment industry, acceptance and respect are paramount, and understanding that everyone is unique, whether disabled or non-disabled, is vital to ensure that people with disabilities are treated fairly, humanely, and with tolerance.
As a direct consequence of these facts, the Diversity Project’s disability workstream recently reviewed whether to change the name of the workstream to the ability workstream, to better represent the fact that people with disabilities of any sort are perfectly able to work, to live full lives and to fully participate in society.
Ultimately though, it decided to retain the existing name – after all, people with disabilities are the nation’s largest minority, which is the only one that anyone can join at any time.
