A skills solution hiding in plain sight
by Dr Ben Hamer, Sara Sarraf
With special thanks to contributor Michael Dobbie, Senior Manager, Integrated Infrastructure, PwC Australia. Michael is an experienced senior advisor who brings lived experience to his role as Accessible Infrastructure lead and Disability Employment SME
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With diverse skills and experiences, people with disabilities are one of Australia’s greatest sources of underrepresented labour market talent. But many employers are unaware of the unique benefits that these employees bring to the workplace, let alone how to attract them. Could hiring more workers with disabilities be part of your organisation’s solutions to the skills crunch?
Australia is grappling with skill shortages across the economy. Modelling by PwC and the World Economic Forum shows that closing the skills gap would add up to 5.9 per cent to national GDP and see the creation of 200,000 jobs by 2030.¹ Border closures and government investment to drive economic recovery following the COVID-19 pandemic has only intensified the war for talent and revealed significant gaps and vulnerabilities in the labour market. In May 2021², job vacancies hit record highs with pronounced shortages across low-skilled roles such as warehousing, storage and distribution, aged and disability care support, automotive trades and administrative support across hospitality, construction, agriculture, and aged care sectors.
But while border closures are temporary, the skills challenge is enduring. The 2021 Australian Intergenerational Report³ forecast a decline in workforce participation over the next 40 years. In the more immediate term, the world is on the precipice of The Great Resignation, with 38 per cent of workers thinking about quitting their jobs.⁴ The tumult in the world of work poses significant risks to Australian organisations. Many will need to consider far more innovative approaches to managing resourcing if they are to meet customer demand, drive growth and mitigate risks.
Australia's greatest sources of under utilised talent
People with disabilities represent one of Australia's greatest underrepresented talent pools in the labour force. Over 2.1 million working-age Australians identify as having a disability, but only half are employed in the workforce. People with a disability also experience more underemployment compared to people without.⁵ According to the National Disability Strategy (2010-2020),⁶ most people with disabilities can and do want to work more to have greater financial independence.
Getting more people with disabilities into the workforce not only enhances their well-being, it also creates opportunities for long-term economic growth and development, critical to Australia's ongoing prosperity. In an age where businesses increasingly recognise the gains brought by diversity of thought and experience to their brand, services, products and culture, employing people with disabilities represents a win-win pathway to creating value for clients, people and society.
Workers with disabilities deliver
At one level, employing people with disabilities helps businesses meet workforce demand and fill critical shortages. But people with disabilities also bring additional and unique benefits to workplaces:⁷
Reliability and punctuality - People with disabilities take less sick leave. The costs to business of absenteeism and sick leave for employees with disabilities can be as low as 34 per cent of the cost incurred by their colleagues.8
Attrition and retention - Hiring people with disabilities often improves retention and reduces overall employee turnover, reducing costs associated with re-hiring and re-training new workers.9
Cost-effectiveness - A variety of government incentives⁸ are available for employers hiring people with disabilities. These include the Wage Subsidy Scheme, Disabled Australian Apprenticeship Wage Support and the Employment Assistance Fund, which provides financial assistance for workplace modifications.
Productivity and innovation - Across different industries, businesses have reported that people with disabilities are often equally, if not more, productive. Additionally, people with disabilities bring new experiences and creative skills that can enhance innovation.⁷
And by hiring people with disabilities and taking a more inclusive approach to culture and strategy more generally, businesses can create additional advantages and benefit through:
Customer loyalty and satisfaction - By appealing to the widest range of people, businesses can align their values with their customers’ values, strengthening their competition within the market.¹⁰
Inclusive design - A recent report has suggested that non-inclusive product and service design has excluded at least five million Australians, who possess over $40 billion in combined annual disposable income.¹⁰
Strong employee value proposition (EVP) - By creating an inclusive culture, businesses can enhance their EVP, which has flow-on effects such as enhancing employee engagement and brand recognition and becoming an employer of choice.
How to tap into this opportunity
Skill shortages will be an enduring challenge for Australian organisations long after borders reopen. To tap into the opportunity offered by employing people with disabilities, employers will need to invest in sustainable solutions. They should start by focusing on building functional workplace policies and practices that accommodate the recruitment, experience, and retention of people with disabilities. The end goal is to create and embed a workplace culture where diversity and inclusion are valued and celebrated. Here are some practical steps employers can take to get them there:
1. Plan your approach
Employers need to start with identifying potential gaps or areas of improvement across the business by assessing the current state of diversity and inclusion policies, processes, practices and experiences. They must capture this information consistently to ensure that adjustments are tailored and meet the needs of individuals with disabilities. Capturing lived experience through co-designing solutions with persons with disabilities can boost employee morale and engagement, enhance psychological safety and ensure that solutions are fit-for-purpose.
2. Review workplace needs
Employers can identify suitable roles for people with a disability by reviewing their resourcing requirements through strategic workforce planning and carving off tasks that fit an individual's unique skills and abilities. Having a clear definition of the skills and activities required for the role and a flexible and accommodating approach will increase the likelihood of finding a suitable candidate. For some employers, particularly smaller businesses, hiring an apprentice or trainee with a disability may offer many unique advantages, such as training the individual to the standards they want.
3. Leverage the experts
A range of disability employment program providers is available to support employers with finding a suitably qualified candidate, accessing government assistance and on the job support. Some services also support employers with job design, advertising and developing workforce policies and practices that accommodate people with disabilities. A range of resources and guidance is available for businesses at any stage of the journey through government agencies and disability networks (see Help and Support below).
4. Prepare the workplace
Employers (and their employees) have different levels of disability awareness and confidence. To address this gap, employers can consider providing enterprise-wide disability confidence training, with the option for more tailored training and support. Employers could also consider how they can optimise the working environment to support the diversity of their workforce needs. Through exploring inclusive and assistive adjustments, technologies and infrastructure that is flexible, adaptable and digitally-enabled, employers can enhance the long-term sustainability of their workforce model.
5. Provide mentorship and growth opportunities
Creating regular opportunities for feedback in a safe and trusted way will help establish a firm foundation for future success. Employers can ensure that any issues are identified and addressed early on by establishing regular three-way discussions between an employee with a disability and their direct manager (and, where relevant, their specialist employment or Disability Employment Service provider). Implementing targeted professional development programs focused on individual needs and potential for employees with a disability can improve job performance and help companies adapt to rapid changes in technology, the economy and society.
6. Evaluate and iterate
To enable a workplace that supports diverse needs and abilities, employers should regularly evaluate their existing policies, processes and systems through employee feedback, expert advice, and industry best practice approaches. By sharing the positive changes that come from these evaluations, employers will demonstrate their commitment to their employees and experiences. This exchange could also see the emergence of a disability employee-led network, building a sense of community while also driving positive workplace action.
As Australian organisations face The Great Resignation and the war for talent, there is a clear opportunity to increase the participation of people with disabilities in the workforce. By leveraging the available resources, designing for inclusion, and taking a strategic approach to resourcing requirements, organisations can mitigate imminent talent risks while making a meaningful social impact in the lives of people with disabilities and their families.
Help and support
A wide range of resources, networks, and incentive schemes is available to support Australian organisations employing people with disabilities:
Job Access: An Australian Government website with information about disability employment, where to get help, and access to free support services. The site provides information on wage support and other government incentives available when a person with a disability is employed.
Australian Human Rights Commission IncludeAbility: An initiative to help public and private sector organisations address employment barriers for Australians living with disability. It also contains guidance for employers and people with disabilities.
Australia Network on Disability: An organisation supporting employers become ‘disability confident’ through guiding resources, training, knowledge sharing and networking opportunities.
The Valuable 500: A global community of business leaders committed to putting disability on the business leadership agenda. The initiative provides resources and information and facilitates access to a worldwide community of like-minded peers.
National Disability Recruitment Coordinator (NDRC): A Government-funded service that helps larger employers access the skills and talents of people with disabilities. The NDRC provides support to businesses through every stage of the recruitment process and supports employers to develop workplace policies and practices that accommodate people with disabilities.
Specialist disability employment program providers (e.g. Specialisterne, Xceptional): These specialist organisations can help employers find a suitable candidate, provide advice on government benefits available, and assist with workplace design options relevant to the industry and role(s) of interest.
Disability Employment Service (DES) providers: There are many large, medium and small for-profit and not-for-profit organisations that support employers with disability hiring assistance and advice.
Australian Apprentices: Australian Apprenticeships Support Network provides one-stop shops for employers seeking to hire Australian Apprentices.
References
World Economic Forum, Upskilling for Shared Prosperity, 2021.
ABS, Job Vacancies, Australia, viewed 27 Aug. 2021.
The Treasury, Australian Government, 2021 Intergenerational Report, 2021.
PwC Australia, What workers want, Winning the war for talent: 38% of employees are thinking of quitting their jobs, 2021.
Australian Network on Disability, Disability Statistics, viewed 13 Sept. 2021.
Department of Social Services, Australian Government, National Disability Strategy 2010-2020, 2012.
Lindsay, Sally et al., A Systematic Review of the Benefits of Hiring People with Disabilities, Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation, 2018.
Australian Safety and Compensation Council, Are People with Disability at Risk at Work? A Review of the Evidence, 2008.
Department of Social Services, Australian Government, An Employer’s Guide To Employing Someone With Disability, 2014.
Centre for Inclusive Design, The Benefits of Designing for Everyone, 2019.
