Why Hiring People With Disabilities Is Good for Business

Benefits of hiring people with disabilities

Hiring people with disabilities can bring significant benefits to your company, including the following. 

1. Hiring people with disabilities can increase your profit margin.

According to a recent Accenture report, “The Disability Inclusion Imperative,” businesses that actively seek to employ people with disabilities outperform other businesses. The report found that these companies generated 1.6 times more revenue, 2.6 times the net income and two times higher profit. As a bonus, businesses that employ people with disabilities are also more likely to have increased productivity levels — outperforming other companies by 25 percent. 

2. Hiring people with disabilities diversifies your company culture.

The value people with disabilities can bring to the workplace goes far beyond numbers. Their unique perspectives help create strong company cultures and improve team innovation. Since people with disabilities often encounter obstacles and problems in their personal lives, they are well-suited to devise solutions to complex and unexpected business problems.

“Hiring people with disabilities is a win for everyone involved,” said Mary Dale Walters, former senior vice president of strategic communications at Allsup. “Those with disabilities often look at business problems differently and bring innovative thinking to new products and customer service.”

There are many tasks where a disability may enable someone to perform better than those without it. For example, people with Asperger’s syndrome (part of the autism spectrum) are frequently intellectually gifted and often have excellent attention to detail and concentration. These qualities make them ideal for complex, detail-oriented jobs.

3. Hiring people with disabilities increases employee motivation and reduces turnover rates.

Aside from financial and economic gains, hiring people with disabilities has a positive effect on factors like motivation and workplace absenteeism. 

According to a scientific paper published in the Humanities and Social Sciences Communications journal, individuals with disabilities are highly motivated to work because, in addition to earning money, they experience social integration and participation, which bolsters their identity and sense of normalcy. 

Since finding a job may be more challenging for someone with a disability, they often respond with extra appreciation, motivation and dedication when they find a position that matches their skills and interests. This high level of employee satisfaction often results in lower absenteeism, reduced tardiness and decreased employee turnover.

4. There is a vast, untapped market of talented people with disabilities.

A striking disparity exists between the current American labor market and the employment status of people with disabilities. 

According to the BLS data cited above, the employment-to-population ratio for people without disabilities in 2023 (65.8 percent) was nearly three times the rate for those with disabilities (22.5). The unemployment rate also highlights this disparity: People with disabilities had an unemployment rate of 7.2 percent, about double the 3.5 percent unemployment rate for those without disabilities. Additionally, in 2023, twice the number of employees with disabilities had part-time employment compared to workers without disabilities.

If American companies actively participated in hiring people with disabilities, they would have access to a talent pool of millions of people with diverse strengths, leadership styles and ways of thinking. 

5. There are federal and state tax incentives for hiring people with disabilities.

The government realizes the benefits of business owners hiring employees with disabilities — and the costs of making workplace accommodations — so it financially incentivizes the process via tax benefits. 

Federal financial incentives include the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC), the Architectural Barrier Removal Tax Deduction and the Disabled Access Credit. Employers may also access state tax credits, which vary by state. These state-level incentives may further reduce

Why companies shouldn’t hold back from hiring people with disabilities

Some companies avoid diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) practices because they incorrectly assume it will cost them excessive money or require complex expertise. However, this is not the case.

Here’s what companies should know about hiring people with disabilities: 

• Hiring people with disabilities isn’t prohibitively expensive: According to the U.S. Department of Labor, nearly half of business accommodations for employees with disabilities cost nothing. When costs are involved, they are often minimal, with many averaging around $300 per person. Additionally, reports overwhelmingly show that the benefits of a diversely abled workforce vastly outweigh the costs. 
• Preparing can save time and money: Being mindful of reasonable accommodations and disability inclusion from the start can also help companies avoid extra costs. For example, consider adding accessibility features immediately and making flexible working hours and diversity training part of your workplace culture.
• Ask employees what they need: Because everyone is an individual and has unique needs, the best way to serve any employee is to ask what they need from you. Don’t assume someone needs complex job accommodations — just deliver what they need to the best of your ability.
• Be mindful of workplace and hiring biases: Be mindful of unconscious or conscious discrimination in the workplace or hiring process. “Push down in your organization and reconsider outdated processes and thinking,” Walters advised. “Sometimes there’s an unrecognized bias among hiring managers — their jobs will not be harder if they hire someone who works a little differently.”

How to create an inclusive environment

Companies with an inclusive environment for employees with disabilities implement five key actions for hiring, retaining and advancing diverse talent. Consider implementing the following best practices in your business.

1. Create a commitment and set concrete goals for inclusive hiring.

It’s not enough to wish you had more disabled people working for you. You must take action by doing the following:

• Devise specific, measurable goals for your workforce. 
• Encourage employees to self-identify as having a disability so you can accurately track your progress. 
• Communicate your inclusive hiring goal to every department and hiring manager in your company. 
• Educate your hiring managers about how employees with disabilities can contribute and how specific disability types can make job candidates more suited for certain positions. 

Additionally, consider partnering with workforce development organizations like state vocational rehabilitation agencies, your local Center for Independent Living chapter, the VA and the Social Security Administration’s Ticket to Work program.

2. Improve the hiring process.

Examine your current hiring process and make improvements. Consider the following tips:

• Write inclusive job descriptions: Write inclusive job descriptions with specific information about job duties, the work environment, physical requirements and workplace culture. If you have flexible benefits like flexible scheduling, remote work or paid time off (PTO), mention this. 
• Use open-ended language: When describing job requirements, use more open-ended language. For example, instead of saying employees must be able to drive between multiple locations, say they must be able to travel between multiple locations. Instead of saying they must be able to stand for long periods, say they must be able to remain at a workstation for long periods.
• Mention interview accommodations:. When communicating with all job candidates, inform them that they can request accommodations for the interview. This will put candidates with disabilities at ease and let them know the company has a welcoming culture. Additionally, visit the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission website to ensure you understand legal guidelines for interview questions related to disability-related inquiries.
• Train hiring managers effectively: Train hiring managers to treat all job candidates as capable adults and evaluate each person only in regard to position suitability, skills and relevant traits specifically related to the job instead of looks, disability or other biases. 

3. Help employees perform their jobs to their fullest abilities.

After hiring an employee with a disability, communicate about necessary accommodations — preferably before they start work. Identify where this employee will be stationed and be prepared to describe the physical work area. When the new employee starts, any accommodations should already be in place to avoid an awkward delay. 

Job accommodations may include:

• Screen-reading software for employees with impaired vision
• Raised desks and wider aisles for employees who use wheelchairs
• Job coaching for employees with intellectual disabilities
• Remote work options
• Reasonable adjustments to work processes 

4. Prepare employees to welcome co-workers with disabilities.

Your company may do everything right from a managerial point of view. However, employees with disabilities can’t be comfortable and productive unless their co-workers treat them with respect. 

To ensure a smooth transition after hiring someone with a disability, implement disability inclusion training for all team members. This will prepare your team to welcome colleagues with disabilities and provide guidance on asking questions respectfully. When appropriate, employees with disabilities can be invited to share their perspectives or answer questions directly. 

Set the tone with your team by expressing your enthusiasm for each new employee and highlighting your expectations for collaboration, inclusion and overall productivity.

5. Provide ongoing empowerment for employees with disabilities.

Consider the following tips for empowering your employees with disabilities:

• Establish mentoring programs: Help employees with disabilities establish mentoring relationships with executives in the organization to support their career development. If an executive with a disability is available and willing to be a mentor, provide this option, but remain flexible. 
• Provide skill-building options: If your organization is larger, consider providing skill-building programs and professional development opportunities. If you have a smaller company, consider paying for external skill training. 
• Promote based on performance: Be clear that all employees will be considered for promotion within the company and then follow through on that promise.

Many large corporations are taking the lead in championing diverse talent. Consider the following:

• Bank of America brought together a group of 300 people with intellectual disabilities to create a support services team that manages fulfillment and external clients.
• Microsoft created a hiring program specifically for people on the autism spectrum. 
• Starbucks has over 20 Signing Stores worldwide.

The future of diverse hiring

For companies to be truly successful in building a diverse workforce, they must view it as an opportunity to embrace the advantages of having a team with diverse abilities and skills — not as a response to compliance requirements or perceived obligations

“Diversity of all sorts is a good idea,” noted Philip La Duke, author of five books on workplace safety. “Not because of political correctness, but from a pragmatic business point of view.”

To make your business more inclusive, start from the inside out. “Make sure your company policies and culture are inclusive and disability-friendly,” Walters advised. “That means everything — employee handbooks, procedures and practices — should take into account that what many think of as a standard is not a standard for others.”

People with disabilities stand to bring success, diversity and increased motivation to the workplace, but they are still fighting against decades of stigma and discrimination. More companies are recognizing the benefits of fully inclusive hiring, but there is still much work to be done.

“Not utilizing talented individuals because they might need accommodations is a serious issue,” cautioned Diane Elizabeth, author of Green Is the New Black and founder of Skincare Ox. “Focus on what the person can do for the company.”