• Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Pacific Medical Law

A founding member of BILA

Law, Justice And Compassion | Call Today

1-604-685-2361

  • Home
  • Team
  • Injuries
    • Birth Injury
    • Brain Injury
    • Cerebral Palsy
    • Infant & Child Injuries
    • Spinal Cord Injuries
  • Janna Epp Bursary
  • Cases Won
  • Publications
  • Blog
  • For Lawyers
  • Contact
  • Home
  • Team
  • Injuries
    • Birth Injury
    • Brain Injury
    • Cerebral Palsy
    • Infant & Child Injuries
    • Spinal Cord Injuries
  • Janna Epp Bursary
  • Cases Won
  • Publications
  • Blog
  • For Lawyers
  • Contact
Call
Contact
Blog
Potential employees with disabilities represent an untapped market

Potential employees with disabilities represent an untapped market

By Andrea Donaldson | Friday, December 7, 2018

Companies want employees that will excel in their jobs and stay with the organization for a long period of time. People with disabilities are a group that are often overlooked by hiring managers, but have a proven track record of success and loyalty. Studies have found that workers with disabilities were five times more likely to stay on the job than their colleagues without disabilities, and these findings have been reflected in several real-life industries. Further, people with disabilities are frequently well educated and highly innovative, after a lifetime of navigating societal systems that could otherwise leave them at a disadvantage.

Data has long shown, that unfortunately, people with disabilities are greatly under-employed as compared to their non-disabled counterparts. But some say this represents a large, untapped market.

“…[I]n today’s market, when we are always hungry for growth, by ignoring that market you are ignoring a huge opportunity to grow,” says Rich Donovan, an expert on disability and corporate profitability.

Advocating for people with disabilities in the workforce

Donovan, a former Wall Street trader living with cerebral palsy, is also the founder and CEO of the Return on Disability Group, a company that manages a tool that helps measure the impact of the disabled workforce. He has dedicated his life to promoting the employment of more people with disabilities in the workforce as well as advocating for a market that attracts more customers with disabilities. But he does not see this as a charity effort.

“We tell our clients, ‘You want to do this to benefit your shareholders’,” Donovan says. Return on Disability provides data and strategies that allow companies, governments, and investors to act on disability in ways that add value to many types of shareholders. The company’s long-term vision is to be the firm that unlocks the economic potential of disability globally and creates catalysts and processes for their customers to act on this market.

In 2006, Rich founded Lime, the leading third-party recruiter in the disability space, and has worked with Google, Pepsi, TD Bank, and others to help the companies attract and retain top talent from within the disability market.

In his book, Unleashing Different: Achieving Business Success Through Disability, Donovan writes that there are over six million Canadians who identify as having a disability, and that group controls $55.4 billion in disposable income. Globally, Donovan says the population of people with a disability – a population of 1.3 billion, about the same size as China – is the world’s last emerging market with billions of dollars of untapped potential.

“We want businesses to understand how including people with disabilities can be beneficial to the company’s bottom line or their top line. That it would help enhance their profitability, rather than looking at this as an act of charity,” says Donovan.

With major companies setting the trend for hiring people with disabilities, attitudes are certainly changing. More brands are running ads including people with disabilities, and incorporating disability into their core messages and campaigns. Donovan says that he now hears companies talk about how workers with disabilities improve customer satisfaction, increase market share, and drive value. The success of these companies further shows that hiring people with disabilities is not only a positive step towards inclusivity, but makes good business sense.

*Image courtesy of https://www.reward-strategy.com/news/news/guidance-update-access-to-work-4629

Share on:
  • Tweet

Posted under: Cerebral Palsy, Accessibility, People with Disabilities

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Categories

  • Accessibility (18)
  • Adult Injuries (21)
  • Cerebral Palsy (61)
  • Cerebral Palsy Association of BC (25)
  • Community Involvement (27)
  • Firm News (55)
  • Health News (69)
  • Legal News (21)
  • Medical Malpractice (25)
  • People with Disabilities (23)
  • Uncategorized (1)
  • Understanding Birth Injuries (1)

Archives

  • February 2021 (2)
  • December 2020 (1)
  • September 2020 (4)
  • August 2020 (4)
  • June 2020 (1)
  • May 2020 (2)
  • April 2020 (5)
  • March 2020 (1)
  • February 2020 (3)
  • January 2020 (4)
  • December 2019 (3)
  • October 2019 (3)
  • September 2019 (1)
  • August 2019 (3)
  • July 2019 (1)
  • June 2019 (3)
  • May 2019 (2)
  • March 2019 (2)
  • February 2019 (2)
  • January 2019 (5)
  • December 2018 (3)
  • November 2018 (3)
  • October 2018 (4)
  • September 2018 (2)
  • August 2018 (8)
  • July 2018 (8)
  • June 2018 (1)
  • April 2018 (24)
  • March 2018 (1)
  • February 2018 (4)
  • January 2018 (2)
  • July 2017 (1)
  • June 2017 (1)
  • May 2017 (1)
  • April 2017 (1)
  • March 2017 (2)
  • December 2016 (1)
  • September 2016 (1)
  • July 2016 (1)
  • June 2016 (2)
  • May 2016 (4)
  • April 2016 (1)
  • March 2016 (4)
  • February 2016 (1)
  • January 2016 (1)
  • November 2015 (1)
  • September 2015 (1)
  • August 2015 (1)
  • July 2015 (1)
  • June 2015 (3)
  • March 2015 (1)
  • February 2015 (1)
  • January 2015 (1)
  • November 2014 (1)
  • May 2014 (2)
  • December 2013 (2)
  • November 2013 (1)
  • October 2013 (3)
  • September 2013 (5)
  • August 2013 (2)
  • July 2013 (1)
  • June 2013 (7)

Recent Posts

  • JAUNDICE
  • Pacific Medical Law Teaches at UBC
  • Andrea Donaldson joins the Trial Lawyers’ Association Board of Governors
  • Sailing to New Heights

How Can We Help You?

Contact Us

Footer

Our Office Location

Pacific Medical Law 401 W. Georgia Street Suite 905 B Vancouver, BC V6B 5A1
Toll Free: 604-685-2361 Phone: 604-685-2361 Map & Directions

Copyright © 2021 Sitemap