I love you but I won't hire you

I love you but I won’t hire you

Here is the truth.   Lots of businesses will generously donate to a charity that supports people with disabilities.   Some are even extremely generous.   And that is wonderful, especially if you are an organization that is providing service to children or adults with disabilities.

 Here is another truth.  People with disabilities are among the most unemployed and underemployed people in our country.  Why is that?

We live in a capitalist country.   Almost all businesses are operating to make money- no surprise there.  Even non-profits are in business to make money, just not necessarily big profits.  

Businesses that serve the public want to put a “pretty face” to their business.  They do not want someone representing their business that might make a customer feel uncomfortable.  So if the business depends on customer interaction, people who look differently- whether it is a hair style, piercings or facial traits that might indicate a disability- are generally not sought after as employees.

Then there is the issue of how much ability does someone need to have to work in my business.  Most business owners think it takes a lot more ability to do the work of the business than it actually takes.  So it is hard for them to believe that someone with a disability could do the job.   They also don’t want to be involved with government regulations that might protect people with disabilities but that aren’t there for plain workers.

Many employers worry that people with disabilities will not have the stamina to work a full schedule or they will be sick a lot driving up heath care rates.   In fact, people with disabilities are very grateful for their jobs so they usually have better attendance.  And data show that they are no more often sick than their counterparts.

So what is the solution?   Mostly the solution is in proper training of people with disabilities.  We need to make sure that people with disabilities do not grow into adulthood with a sense of entitlement that “people will understand I have a disability”.  Mostly they won’t.  And if they do “understand” it is less likely that they will employ you.  Additionally, we need to help people with disabilities develop the stamina to work full or part-time.  We need to make sure the soft job skills are in place.   As professional educators we can do this, but it is not easy.  Our job is to teach employers, “you don’t need to love me, you need to give me a chance at a job”.  You will be pleased and maybe surprised at how well I do.