Persons with disabilities represent about 15% of the world’s population. But their participation in the workforce is disproportionately low. Worldwide, estimates hold that up to 80% are not employed.¹

In higher-income countries, the employment rate of persons with disabilities is estimated at 44%; in lower-income countries, it falls to as low as 10-20%.²

In the US, for example, 31% are employed, compared with 75% of their peers,³ while in the UK, roughly half of persons with disabilities were in employment (53.2%) in 2019 compared with about four out of five nondisabled people (81.8%).⁴ In China, just 6.5% of persons with disabilities are estimated to be employed; the number rises to 25% in India.⁵ This low representation in the workforce is not for lack of desire, but of opportunity. A YouGov poll in 2019, for instance, found that more than 1 million people living with a disability in the UK were able and willing to work but unable to find employment.⁶

And COVID-19 has exacerbated this employment gap. While the pandemic has shown us that remote working and reasonable accommodations at scale are possible, that hasn’t been the case for persons with disabilities whose economic and employment prospects have worsened. Accenture’s COVID-19 Impact survey, which included almost 2,000 persons with disabilities in seven countries, found that the proportion of employees with disabilities confident in their job/ income security fell from 73% to 40% in the six months prior to August 2020.⁷

Strategize for inclusion; nurture the best talent

As Meena embarks on a promising tech career, she worries about some of the challenges she will likely face. As she told us: “At first, I won’t be expected to drive meetings or talk to stakeholders, so using the chat function is fine. But as I start progressing in my career, I will have to speak up and present more. I don’t want my speech impediment to stop me from doing that. The biggest problem is myself, my internalized fear. It’s a feeling that I would be wasting people’s time if I take too long to speak, so I should just stick to a non-speaking role.”

Her fears notwithstanding, Meena plans to speak up: She will talk to her new manager early on about her concerns so they can together brainstorm ways for her to lead meetings once the time arrives. Like so many in the community of persons with disabilities, Meena is full of career aspirations and talents. Living with a speech impediment has helped make her more creative, thoughtful, sensitive and determined. Now it’s up to her future employers to provide strong leadership, flexible policies and inclusive environments so that she and other persons with disabilities can develop confidence, fully belong and truly soar.

Accessibility at Accenture

At Accenture, we’re enabling change with a central Accessibility Center of Excellence to proactively meet the needs of our people with disabilities, along with Accessibility Centers in seven different locations around the world. The goal of the centers is to provide a space where persons with disabilities can interact with accessible technology, demonstrating our accessible design leadership and best practices.

We invested in our applications to ensure that the vast majority are accessible, and we have supplemental resources to navigate additional accessibility requirements. For example, through our Adjustment Request Tool, any employee with disabilities can easily ask for an accommodation such as assistive technology, flex work arrangements, sign language interpreters, screen readers and more.

And to inspire growth, we launched Abilities Unleashed, a unique internal development program for persons with disabilities to become authentic leaders and effective role models and to explore career paths and development opportunities.

Role models | Microsoft

Saqib Shaikh, a software engineer who leads Microsoft’s Seeing AI team, has had a lifelong relationship with advancing inclusive digital technology. Throughout his 15 years at Microsoft, he has channeled his own experience as someone who is blind to champion and drive product accessibility by exploring how AI can empower people with disabilities to become more independent in their daily lives.

His vision began with a dream to build eyeglasses that could observe and describe the world around him. This dream evolved into a collaborative research effort with fellow Microsoft colleagues that resulted in Seeing AI, a smartphone app that uses computer vision to audibly dictate menus and documents, product barcodes, currency, and recognize people – even their facial expressions.

Role models | Microsoft

As Microsoft continues to build its culture of inclusion, several other members of leadership have recently opened up about their disabilities and discussed how their unique perspectives enable them to develop products that work better for everyone.¹²

Flexible working | Bounteous

Bounteous seeks to ensure that inclusivity is intrinsically embedded in its core values and understands that a diverse workforce is more empathetic, collaborative and innovative. An important way it cultivates inclusivity is via flexibility: The company offers flexible work-from-home schedules and take-what-you-need paid time off. For team members who want to work from one of the collaboration centers, the company ensures that the physical space is also comfortable, safe and accessible.

Flexible working | Bounteous

Consider the recent Chicago headquarters expansion: In addition to adjustable desks, hoteling and private spaces, gender-free restrooms, and mother’s rooms, the company purchased new ADA-compliant equipment, lowered countertops in kitchens and bathrooms and added handles to all doors. By co-innovating with clients and employees alike, Bounteous makes both schedules and physical spaces more accommodating and flexible.¹³

Employee Resource Groups | GlaxoSmithKline (GSK)

In 2020, GSK signed up to the Valuable 500 pledge as part of their ongoing commitment to creating an inclusive workplace which enables their people to thrive. They’re also members of the UK government Disability Confidence Scheme and signatories to the UK Department for International Development’s Charter for Change, joining other organizations with a common aim to ensure rights, freedoms, dignity and inclusion for people with disabilities.

GSK leaders also serve as role models throughout the organization. For example, Tracy Lee Mitchelson, Training, Disability Inclusion Director, co-leads the company’s Disability Confidence network. According to her, “With the help of others, I launched the Disability Confidence Network (DCN) as a GSK Employee Resource Group.

Employee Resource Groups | GlaxoSmithKline (GSK)

DCN is a trusted internal resource that partners with our businesses to focus on the ability in disability and enable all GSK employees to reach their true potential at work. We’re advocates for those with disabilities, and we’ve helped individuals navigate their own particular challenges.¹⁴

Training | Lemon Tree Hotels

Lemon Tree Hotels Limited, the largest hotel chain in India in the mid-priced segment with 82 hotels, employs approximately 550 persons with disabilities, accounting for 11-12% of its workforce. Lemon Tree hires people with a range of physical, intellectual/ developmental and special learning disabilities across nearly every department.

Training is infused throughout the organization for all disability types. For example, new recruits must take an introductory sign language course so they can communicate with non-hearing colleagues, and managers receive higher-level courses. Employees undergo training on how to work with colleagues with disabilities, for example by avoiding making too many last-minute changes to schedules, since advance planning is often key to an employee with a disability’s successful navigation of daily life and work.

Training | Lemon Tree Hotels

It’s clear that extra training has contributed to the success of the chain and of individual employees. In housekeeping, hearing-impaired staff have been more productive than their hearing colleagues, while hearing-impaired restaurant workers are often far quicker to notice customers who are trying to attract a waiter’s attention. Lemon Tree’s commitment to hiring persons with disabilities and training everyone to work well together is a source of pride that generates high morale among all its employees.¹⁸

Methodology

Survey

The findings in this report are based from two online surveys fielded in 28 countries during October and November 2019. The executive survey was completed by 1,748 senior leaders (C-suite and direct reports; 675 with a disability) in companies with 50+ employees. The employee survey was completed by 5,870 persons with disabilities in companies with 5+ employees.

The questionnaires were constructed after extensive research (academic papers, literature search and drawing on Accenture’s experience with clients) into the personal and workplace factors that are believed to influence the likelihood of employees advancing at work.

Methodology

Defining disability

Survey respondents were asked: Do you have any difficulty in performing day-to-day activities (e.g., walking, communicating, hearing, seeing even if wearing glasses) because of a mental, intellectual, sensory or physical health condition which has lasted, or is expected to last, at least 6 months?

And they were given the following response options: No; Yes, some difficulty; Yes, a lot of difficulty.

Any respondent who answered ‘Yes’ was defined as having a disability.