Would you like to improve workplace morale while fostering innovation? If so, hire people with disabilities (PWD), an undertapped labor pool. Employing PWD is mutually beneficial to employers and to PWD.
PWD May Struggle With Securing Employment
Nationally, PWD face adverse employment outcomes. In the U.S. in April 2025, PWD have more than double the unemployment rate of individuals without disabilities (PWOD), 8.2%, compared with 3.5%. Disparities in unemployment rates run across every educational attainment group. PWD are almost twice as likely as PWOD to work part-time.
Your Government May Be a Model Employer — or May Want to Be
Your employing government can be a model employer of PWD. Such employers set disability-related policies, hiring goals/preferences for PWD, accessibility requirements/standards, and more.
Benefits of Hiring PWD
Employing PWD helps offices, as PWD can be valuable employees:
- They may have skills and experience that others don’t have.
- They also may improve workplace morale, innovation, and creativity.
- As they have higher retention rates than PWOD, they decrease turnover, thus saving time and money.
Employment may assist PWD by:
- Giving them a place where they belong and succeed.
- Enabling them to learn new skills and have meaningful careers.
- Letting them be independent (or more independent).
- Paying them, which may improve their quality of life.
- Giving them a sense of purpose.
- Preventing unneccessary mental health problems and even suicides
Be Prepared to Work With PWD
Ensure that your workplace welcomes, accepts, and accommodates PWD. You may consider:
- Using the social, not the medical, model of disabilities. The social model involves society changing to accomodate PWD. In contrast, the medical model views the disability as something to be fixed.
- Regularly training your employees about disabilities and how to work with PWD. You may want to hire external experts to conduct the trainings.
- Ensuring that your office is physically and technologically accessible. For example, instead of forcing your employees to climb stairs, have ramps and elevators.
- Creating and implementing:
- A zero-tolerance non-discrimination policy. Inclusive hiring processes. For example, in job announcements, ask if applicants have accommodation requests for the application process. You can also allow people to submit their applications via multiple methods (i.e. – website, e-mail, fax, and mail).A written reasonable accommodations policy.A no-bullying policy. Researchers speculate that even with protections for PWD, around 41 percent of PWD are victims of workplace bullying.
- Being willing to make changes.
- Honoring employees.
Implementing these adjustments often improves the environment for everyone, not just PWD.
Final Thoughts
Hiring PWD is a win for everyone. Make your office accessible to PWD.
Miriam Edelman, MPA, MSSW, is a Washington, D.C.,-based policy professional. Her experience includes policy work for Congress. Miriam’s undergraduate degree is from Barnard College, Columbia University, with majors in political science and urban studies. She has a master’s in public administration from Cornell University, where she was inducted into the national honorary society for public administration. She has a master’s of science in social work (focusing on policy) from Columbia University. She is a commissioner of the DC Commission on Persons with Disabilities. Miriam aims to continue her career in public service. She is especially interested in democracy, civic education, District of Columbia autonomy, diversity, health policy, women’s issues, and disabilities.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.