Top Ten Companies for Employees with Disabilities

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Top Ten Companies for Employees with Disabilities

By Pat Mora

http://www.disaboomjobs.com/articles.aspx?ArticleID=EL18

An estimated 54 million people in the U.S. have disabilities—and that

segment of the population represents a tremendous – if underutilized -

- workforce asset. Only 32 percent of working-age Americans with

disabilities are employed although fully two-thirds of those who are

jobless want to be part of the workforce.

The National Organization on Disabilities (NOD) also notes that the

disability community represents nearly one-fifth of the U.S.

population and an untapped market worth more than $220 billion in

spending power. With those kinds of numbers, it seems corporate

America would actively seek out the disability community. But,

unfortunately, that's still a relatively rare scenario.

There are, however, some companies that " get it. " Companies that are

smart enough to recognize the value, work ethic, capability, and

commitment that most employees with disabilities bring to the office.

Companies that are also smart enough to recognize the enterprise-wide

and bottom-line benefits of creating a workplace conducive to

recruiting people with disabilities.

When Diversity, Inc. put together their end-of-year 2007 list of the

top companies for people with disabilities, they looked at the

following key points:

Does the company have employee resource groups for people with

disabilities?

Does it have active recruitment programs for people with

disabilities?

Does the company website feature images of people with disabilities?

Does the company have alternative career tracks for parents or others

with long-term family-care issues?

Does the company have a substantial number of managers participating

in mentoring programs? (Among the top ten companies, an average of 49

percent of managers participated in such programs)

Based on these criteria, the following companies were deemed stellar

performers, and the kind of organization we hope others will soon be

emulating:

Deloitte & Touche

Eastman Kodak

Ernst & Young

JP Chase

Marriott International

Merrill Lynch

Pricewaterhouses

Proctor & Gamble

SC

Wachovia

If you have a disability and are looking for a place to start a job

search, this list could literally be the key to your future. And even

if you don't have a disability, it makes good sense to find ways to

support these companies and the products/services they provide. They

deserve to thrive financially for doing what all companies should be

doing – actively engaging the whole community. It's just good

business sense.