Reflections from Employers on the Disabled Workforce:Focus Groups with Healthcare, Hospitality and Retail Administrators

摘要

Abstract Historically, employment rates for people with disabilities have been low.Despite legislation that prohibits the discrimination of this group in work settings,employers are reluctant to hire people with disabilities. The purpose of this qualitative studywas to explore the experiences of employers with workers with disabilities. Three focusgroups were conducted with 21 administrators from three business sectors (i.e., healthcare,hospitality, and retail). Content analysis indicated five primary themes: (1) importance ofdisability employment agencies and disability advocates; (2) persistence of manager bias;(3) lack of promotion opportunities; (4) costs associated with having workers withdisabilities; and (5) benefits associated with having workers with disabilities. Implicationsinclude the need for intervention studies that address the challenges experienced byindividuals with disabilities, particularly during hiring and promoting phases ofemployment, and educational efforts to inform administrators and managers of the fewcosts and numerous benefits associated with having workers with disabilities.