A recent study on the Spanish labour market shows that people with disabilities find it more difficult to get a job than those without disabilities. Employers that are the most satisfied with and best at integrating persons with disabilities are those that have already worked with people in this group. In most cases, disabled people occupy positions with a lowlevel of responsibility and which do not require a qualification.
A ‘Study on employers’ perspectives regarding the employment of disabled people’ (Estudio sobre perspectivas del mundo empresarial respecto a la contratación de personas con discapacidad (616Kb PDF)) was conducted by the Manpower Foundation (Fundación Manpower) and the ONCE Foundation (Fundación ONCE), based on a survey of 1,500 Spanish companies.
Underemployment of disabled people
According to the labour market statistics published by the National Institute of Statistics (Instituto Nacional de Estadística, INE), the activity rate for the Spanish population in 2002 was 70%, while for people with disabilities it was just 33.7%. In contrast, the proportion of unemployed people with disabilities was 15.3%, whereas the rate corresponding to the overall population was 11%. Therefore, people with disabilities appear to have greater problems in getting a job than those without disabilities.
Employers’ perceptions
Employers have a different perception of disabled people depending on their type of disability. The most positive perceptions are found for people with physical disabilities, followed by those with sensory disabilities. In contrast, people with psychological disabilities received the poorest evaluation by employers.
In general, employers have a positive opinion regarding the performance of employees with disabilities and their work is mainly considered to be of the same standard as that of non-disabled employees. More specifically, 70.5% of the employers interviewed consider that the performance of disabled workers is similar to that of non-disabled workers. Only 9.5% claim that disabled employees’ work is lower in standard, while 7.5% believe that it is of a higher standard.
Interestingly, employers who have already worked with disabled persons have the most positive opinion of people in this group, with 77.8% of these employers indicating that their performance is better. In contrast, employers who have never employed people with disabilities had the most sceptical attitude in this regard.
Most of the companies that have hired a disabled employee affirm that they would do so again, as they regard it as a highly positive experience. In fact, nearly eight out of 10 companies (77.5%) that have already employed a disabled employee as a member of their staff were planning to incorporate a worker with a disability into their workforce during 2007.
Types of posts occupied
According to the survey respondents, posts with high responsibility or involving strenuous physical activity, or those that may entail working closely with the public, are not suitable for people with disabilities. Therefore, this prevents disabled people from occupying certain positions which frequently require higher qualifications. The majority of the disabled people hired during 2006 secured posts as office clerks (37.7%) or non-qualified workers (31.8%).
Reasons for hiring
Among the companies that have already worked with disabled people or those that have already considered or tried to do so, the reasons given for employing persons with disabilities are as follows: 68.8% attributed their decision to a desire to integrate such employees into the workplace, 28.8% to economic considerations and 25.9% to legal motivations.
Difficulties encountered
Among the same group of companies, a number of barriers to the employment of people with disabilities were highlighted: a lack of workers fulfilling the requirements of the post (30.8%), a lack of information on which institutions to contact regarding the recruitment of disabled persons (25.6%), or a lack of information on which posts disabled people could fill (19.7%).
Companies that have tried to employ a disabled person consider that the procedure should be quicker and simpler. Thus, excessive bureaucracy and the slowness of the process are two key factors that discourage companies from employing people with disabilities.
In general, companies play a passive role in this respect, especially those that have never considered hiring a disabled person. They consider that the public administration associations and foundations should be the first to offer disabled people a job option.
Commentary
Spain has already brought in numerous measures seeking to promote the employment of people with disabilities. However, bearing in mind the results of this study, additional efforts need to be made in this regard – such as reducing bureaucratic procedures and increasing public aid, as well as developing information and recommendation programmes, based on active communication.
Jessica Duran, IKEI