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Up to three quarters of disabled people find that their condition is hampering their job search, according to new research.
The research, conducted by the Recruitment Industry Disability Initiative (RIDI), also found that 53 per cent of disabled jobseekers first faced barriers as early as the application stage.
Further to this, 54 per cent reported hurdles at multiple stages of the recruitment process.
One survey respondent with a hearing impairment specified telephone interviews as being a particular challenge. They said, “I just can’t do them.”
“Recruiters constantly wanting me to talk to me on the phone is annoying.”
Another respondent with a visual impairment said, “Being unable to drive meant that I didn’t even get an interview in a number of cases.”
Despite these recent figures, there has been a significant improvement since the RIDI survey in 2015, when 85 per cent of jobseekers said their disability had a negative impact when looking for work.
Speaking about the research, Kate Headley, Director of Consulting at The Clear Company and spokesperson for RIDI said, “While it’s unacceptable that so many disabled jobseekers continue to find the recruitment processes challenging, these results confirm that we’re certainly moving in the right direction.”
“Over the past two years I have witnessed a groundswell of awareness and understanding around disability in the workplace.”
“This is in no small part thanks to the work that RIDI and our partners are doing in this area – but we still have further to go.”
“The organisations we work with are no longer asking ‘why?’ they should become more inclusive, but ‘how?’.”
“Employers are increasingly realising that unless their processes are inclusive, the best person for the job may never even apply for the role – let alone make it to interview.”
