Four Tips to Create a More Inclusive Hiring Practice for People with Disabilities

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In early 2022, a LinkedIn post by South Korean web designer Dayeon Jeong went viral. A prospective employer had just canceled her interview when they learned she was deaf, and that wasn’t the only time she had faced discrimination because of her disability. She had applied for over 200 jobs in total, and two other companies rejected her on the very same day. “It’s so common that I just let it go,” she wrote, even though she was understandably angry about the situation, which had left her feeling powerless. Encouragingly though, her post received hundreds of messages of support and even gained international attention.

When the BBC covered her story, they reported that Dayeon is certainly not alone. The overall employment rate for people with a disability in South Korea is below 50%, and this drops to 21% for women. In companies with more than 50 employees, people with disabilities are required to make up at least 3% of the workforce, but in reality, the majority of openings available to these individuals are restricted to part-time or minimum wage jobs. To make matters worse, Dayeon explained that employers commonly perceive people with disabilities as naïve and try to take advantage of them.

So, why am I sharing this with you? 

Dayeon’s case highlights just how daunting the hiring obstacle course can still be for a job seeker with a disability, even in a developed economy such as South Korea. In many places, people with disabilities make up a sizable minority of the potential workforce (more than 10% in the U.S.), but they remain significantly underrepresented in the workplace. This is despite the fact that Forbes has identified disability inclusion as a key driver in business growth. So, as you look to increase diversity in your organization, how can you empower this often overlooked group to find work? To answer this question, we will briefly look at a few ways that employers can better accommodate people with disabilities and neurodiverse people in the recruiting process.

Best Practice #1: Start by making your sourcing more inclusive. Post to online job portals specifically geared toward people with disabilities. Host inclusive job fairs or hiring events specifically for this group (perhaps together with other underrepresented groups). If you belong to a recruitment agency, consider partnering with local community organizations that represent people with disabilities.

Best Practice #2: Write inclusive job descriptions with a diversity statement that shows your positive attitude toward people with disabilities. Also, avoid listing non-essential requirements. This is all too common. Ask yourself: Does the job really need candidates to hold a driver’s license? Is it absolutely necessary to specify a minimum typing speed, or to stipulate a particular shift length?

Best Practice #3: Ensure your application forms are accessible. Can you offer braille or large print options for candidates who are visually impaired, or accept audio or video applications? Where you use forms, do not make them unnecessarily long or complex, and keep the questions directly relevant to the role in question.

Best Practice #4: Be proactive in offering accommodations, to defuse the awkwardness of the candidate having to ask first. Include accommodation options on your application form. Offer a remote interview if it would be particularly difficult or uncomfortable for a candidate to be physically present in the office, or indicate you would be open to hybrid remote working if you know this would benefit them. Have someone available who knows sign language, or better still, train some of your interviewers directly. Many other accommodations are very straightforward. It is as simple as avoiding very brightly lit areas for an applicant with epilepsy, for example. Also, ensure your interviewing team (i.e., recruiters, hiring managers, and ambassadors) have all been trained on your workplace’s accommodation policy and process. 

I hope these practical suggestions will inspire you to be creative and come up with your own inclusive innovations that are tailored to your workplace. Every organization is different, so I encourage you to work together with your recruiting team, hiring managers, and DEI experts to consider how you can make your entire recruiting process more inclusive for people with disabilities, including neurodiverse candidates.

As for Dayeon, her story has a positive ending. According to her LinkedIn profile, she now has a part-time graphic design job and is also working as a freelancer. While the scale of the response to her post far exceeded her expectations and inspired her to succeed, it also illustrates the strength of feeling among employees over workplace discrimination. This is a great example because it captures how candidates are increasingly looking for a commitment to diversity when searching for jobs, and why employer branding is now so important to attract top talent.

JOIN US IN THE COMMENTS: How do your recruiting programs engage people with disabilities, and is this group already a focus of your efforts to increase diversity? What unexpected benefits have they brought to your organization? Join the conversation and share your thoughts in the comments below.