As DEED celebrates National Disability Employment Awareness Month, it’s the perfect time to highlight a recent employer survey – Enhancing Employment Opportunities for People with Developmental Disabilities – that shows the positive results employers have found when hiring people with disabilities and working with DEED’s Vocational Rehabilitation Services (VRS) team.
Some of the highlights from the survey include:
- Two-thirds (69%) of employers in Minnesota, at locations with 5 or more employees, employ individuals with disabilities.
- The employer survey results found employers are equally satisfied with their employees with disabilities as they are with their employees without disabilities, but for different reasons.
- Employers noted that employees with disabilities are valuable, loyal, bring a lot to the job, and have a good attitude and work ethic.
- Just over half of employers (54%) have needed to provide accommodations for their employees with disabilities, and half of the accommodations cost less than $1,000 on average, per employee.
DEED’s VRS and State Service for the Blind (SSB) divisions have long focused on connecting workers with disabilities to employment opportunities in Minnesota. In the survey, employers shared their experiences working with DEED’s services, including:
- Over half of the businesses that employ people with disabilities (57%), were assisted by VRS at DEED and 97% were satisfied with VRS services, while 56% were very satisfied.
- For employers that do not currently employ people with disabilities, 72% would be likely to pursue the possibility of hiring a person with a disability, if contacted by DEED or one of its partnering organizations.
The Governor's Office, DEED and other state agencies and offices and the Minnesota Council on Disability are celebrating National Disability Employment Awareness Month in various ways. Find out more about what DEED is doing to mark this month in Minnesota on CareerForceMN.com/NDEAM.
