With the UN’s International Day of Persons with Disabilities approaching on 3 December, new findings suggest that while UK employers overwhelmingly want to hire more disabled staff, many lack the confidence, tools or understanding to do so.
Almost one in four working-age adults in the UK has a disability – a figure that continues to rise. Yet disabled people still face stark inequalities in the labour market. The recent Keep Britain Working review, led by Sir Charlie Mayfield, found that disabled people remain locked out of work at twice the rate of non-disabled people, leaving an employment gap of almost 30 percentage points. For those with learning disabilities, paid employment stands at just 4.8 per cent.
To mark the global awareness day, Mayfield has joined forces with the Disability Charities Consortium, a coalition of nine leading charities, to galvanise HR leaders and major employers into building truly inclusive workplaces.
“Lots of employers want to do more to recruit and retain disabled employees, but don’t know where to begin,” said Diane Lightfoot, chief executive of the Business Disability Forum and co-chair of the consortium.
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