Ready, Willing and Disabled
Employers: key findings
"My sister-in-law is disabled and would be an asset to any employer, but
unfortunately people are too prejudiced to see beyond the disability. They
make assumptions that if somebody is physically disabled they also have
learning difficulties, which prevents them from communicating for
themselves. All rubbish of course, but sadly people don't meet many disabled
people in everyday life, so ignorance accounts for most misunderstandings."
Employer, construction industry
- 40% of employers didn't know if their premises would be accessible to someone with a physical impairment. Ignorance about the access requirements of people with sensory impairments was even higher. This shows that there is still a great deal of ignorance about what constitutes an accessible environment.
- 51% of employers didn't know if disabled people applied for jobs with their company or organisation.
- 45% of employers said they wouldn't be able to employ a disabled person because they couldn't afford it while a further 44% didn't know if cost would prevent them.
- 19% of employers said that the fact that they've never worked with a disabled person before, and so don't know what to expect, would prevent them employing a disabled person.
- 11% of employers said that they wouldn't employ a disabled person because their clients or customers wouldn't want to be served by a disabled person. A further 45% said they didn't know if this would prevent them employing someone.
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