New research by The Valuable 500 highlights a gap between perception and reality. With over 1m disable people seeking work, it is surprising that almost half of businesses believe there is a shortage of disabled candidates.

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.   

While employing people with a disability is widely acknowledged as beneficial, it is proving difficulty for companies to act, or simply don't know where to start and what it might involve.

The Thomas Pocklington Trust in the UK have created a series of video's showing how blind and partially sighted people work. We Work - Thomas Pocklington Trust (pocklington-trust.org.uk). They also interviewed employers to share their experience of employing visually impaired candidates' Inclusive employers: good for business - Thomas Pocklington Trust (pocklington-trust.org.uk).

The Business Disability Forum created a series of short videos with disabled people sharing how they work. Find the videos on Digital success in less than three minutes - Business Disability Forum