47% of employers say there aren't enough disabled applicants

Global business collective, the Valuable 500, today announces new research showing that almost half of businesses believe that a key barrier to the recruitment and retention of disabled employees is the lack of candidates.

According to new research conducted by the Valuable 500, 47% of businesses believe there aren’t enough candidates with a disability. However, research by Virgin Media and Scope in the UK shows there are 1 million disabled people who want to work but are being denied the opportunity. The research highlights how misconceptions, lack of representation and taboos are still playing a huge role in recruitment policies

Research also showed that almost two thirds (63%) of businesses didn’t know how many people within their organisation identify as disabled.

This contrasts evidence from government figures showing that there are one million disabled people in the UK who want to and can work but are being denied the opportunity.  The data, highlighted by Virgin Media and Scope with their ground-breaking campaign – ‘Work with Me’ was supported by an Opinium survey of 2,000 disabled people which found that when applying for jobs only half of applications result in an interview, compared with 69% for non-disabled applicants. 2021 Government figures show that the disability employment gap sits at 28.4%, a decrease year on the year by just 0.7%. This shows a clear need for a shift away from misconceptions and taboos in recruitment.

One major factor behind the lack of job candidates with disabilities could be attributed to lack of representation of disability inclusion.   Whilst there has been a growing awareness in the past year, it still doesn’t have its deserved share of voice in the broader business agenda.  It is often a forgotten aspect in this conversation – particularly when it comes to business leadership where just 4% of CEOs have a disclosed disability. The Valuable 500 is working to tackle this critical issue by promoting better ‘story telling’ by business leaders with first-hand experience of disability.

Source: Valuable 500