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Only 56 percent of people with disabilities who are of working age are currently employed, compared with 81 percent of nondisabled Americans of working age, according to research conducted by the National Organization on Disabilities (NOD). What those figures don't show is that several large American corporations are making the hiring and retaining of workers with disabilities a priority.
A 2003 survey by Careers & the disABLED magazine asked readers to name companies they felt were progressive when it comes to recruiting workers with disabilities. The top 10 companies were:
- Microsoft
- AT&T
- State Farm Insurance
- IBM
- American Broadcasting Company (ABC)
- Johnson & Johnson
- Honeywell
- Raytheon
- Lockheed Martin
- Motorola
Here's a look at how three companies earned their spots among the top 50 companies in the survey.
Microsoft: Employee Advocacy Groups and Accommodation
The Redmond, Washington-based company, which employs 56,000 individuals, is involved with local and national organizations such as the Business Leadership Network, Career Opportunities for Students with Disabilities (COSD) and the Department of Labor's Office of Disability and Employment Policy (ODEP).
Mylene Padolina Sr., a diversity consultant at Microsoft, says it is difficult to quantify the number of employees with disabilities at Microsoft because of the company's voluntary self-identification process. “However, we do know that we have employees with disabilities in various departments, positions and levels,” says Padolina.
Microsoft has more than 30 employee network groups or diversity advisory councils (DACs). Three of them relate to disabilities. One is for employees with visual impairments, another is for those who are deaf and hard of hearing and a third is for employees with attention deficit disorder. A fourth group is forming for employees with mobility impairments.
“Our individualized process begins with prehire awareness and encompasses employees who need simple furniture accommodations to those returning from a long-term disability,” says Padolina.
A multidisciplinary team, with representatives from HR, ergonomics, corporate diversity, legal and facilities, comprise an internal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Accommodation Committee. This committee often proactively seeks input and reviews of its decisions from outside medical providers, assistive technology vendors and ergonomics experts.
“It is through the utilization of these collective minds and partnerships that we are able to meet our commitment of providing an inclusive workplace where our employees can do their best work,” says Padolina.
State Farm Insurance: Meeting Individuals' Needs
“Our efforts are always driven by individual need, as outlined by law,” says Mia Jazo-Harris, a spokeswoman for Bloomington, Illinois-based State Farm Insurance, which employs 89,000 workers in the US and Canada. “It is an interactive process between the company and the employee to address specific accommodation circumstances.”
The company has a disability support unit and a standing corporate committee that reviews and takes action on accommodation requests. “State Farm recognizes that employees don't carry the sole burden of seeking accommodation,” adds Jazo-Harris. “Managers are provided with training to help them assess when circumstances merit accommodation review.”
Ford: A History of Employing Workers with Disabilities
For Ford Motor Company (47th on the survey), being active in providing opportunities for those with disabilities is a company tradition. The Dearborn, Michigan-based company employed 138,000 people in America and 327,500 across the world at the end of 2003.
As early as 1911, Henry Ford began paying attention to the assimilation of people with disabilities into the workforce. In 1919, following the casualties of World War I, Ford employed approximately 4,034 men with disabilities.
“Ford Motor Company desires to be at the forefront of providing opportunities for people with disabilities and toward that end established Ford Employees Dealing with disAbilities (FEDA),” says Karen Dukatz-DeVitis, the company's recruiting manager. FEDA promotes issues such as the improvement of building access and providing Braille signage for employees.
Brewster Thackery, vice president and director of communications for the National Organization on Disability, sums up why corporations are smart to ramp up their efforts to recruit and retain workers with disabilities: “People with disabilities face extra challenges every day, and because of that, many develop patterns of resilience, ingenuity, and adaptability,” says Thackery. “All of those traits can be very beneficial in the workplace.”
