Businesses in Massachusetts with a history of hiring people with disabilities know their value. How can opportunities be expanded for the 200,000 still unemployed?
Massachusetts added 9,100 jobs in February, according to this story by New England Cable News reporter, Peter Howe. The state’s 6.9% unemployment rate is one of the best in the nation and is much better than the overall national rate of 8.3%. Such figures prompted a recent guest op-ed in The Boston Globe, appealing to businesses in Massachusetts to keep people with disabilities in mind when making decisions about hiring new employees.
Globe op-ed editor Marjorie Pritchard posted “As economy climbs, don’t leave people with disabilities behind” to the paper’s opinion blog, The Podium, last Friday. The article, co-authored by James Brett of the New England Council and Alexis Henry of UMASS Medical School, says that the 200,000 people with disabilities currently unemployed in the state of Massachusetts are part of a longer-term challenge that is “fueled by fear and uncertainty” rather than the recent economic downturn.
Both Brett and Henry have taken active roles in advocating for greater job opportunities for people with disabilities. Brett is the Chairman for both The President’s Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities as well as The Governor’s Commission on Intellectual Disability; while Henry serves as the principal investigator for the “Work Without Limits” program.
They make sure to point out that it is not a matter of making the case that people with disabilities provide value in the workplace, but rather how to go about making it happen. This is where organizations that provide contract labor and career training for people with disabilities are essential. They write:
When people with disabilities enter a new workplace, employers should make use of training specialists who can help managers develop effective ways of training and supporting their new employees as they master their job tasks.
The authors remind business leaders of Governor Deval Patrick’s call “to make Massachusetts a model employer for people with disabilities “ in 2010 and propose taking 10% of the thousands of internship opportunities provided every year to high school and college students, and instead offering them to people with disabilities.
Not only would such a goal enable these people to build their own resumes and discover potential career opportunities, the authors argue, but it would bolster that company’s efforts to have a workforce representative of the state’s population:
These opportunities can also serve employers to develop a culture of true diversity and inclusiveness throughout their companies… There’s no better way to break down barriers between us than when we meet each other face-to-face and learn from one another.
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