Inclusive employment depends on practical approaches that reduce barriers and support participation. Tools, resources, and workplace strategies can help employers, communities, and individuals create environments where people with disabilities can use their skills, pursue goals, and succeed at work.
The latest Kessler Foundation survey of supervisors in the hospitality industry has revealed critical insights into the recruitment, support, and accommodation of workers with disabilities. The findings offer actionable takeaways for employers looking to diversify their workforce and enhance workplace inclusion.
Center Leadership
Center Leadership
Kessler Foundation, in collaboration with the University of New Hampshire Institute on Disability, issues customized, monthly reports titled “National Trends in Disability Employment.” nTIDE is based on the monthly jobs report issued on the first Friday of every month by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. nTIDE compares the economic indicators of employment for people with and without disabilities.
Employment opportunities grow when workplaces prioritize flexibility, accessibility, and inclusive practices. Our research helps identify strategies that support equitable hiring, meaningful accommodations, and career development for people with disabilities.
Earn a free certificate to build a more inclusive workforce
A free certificate program, “Employing Abilities at Work,” prepares human resource professionals and others to confidently attract, hire, and retain people with disabilities successfully in the workplace. This training tool can effect change and growth in companies looking to diversify their workforce. Kessler Foundation provided an initial grant to help launch this effort in 2022 by SHRM Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the Society for Human Resource Management.
Groundbreaking Surveys
The findings from this 2022 Effects of COVID-19 survey share firsthand knowledge of the profound effects the COVID-19 pandemic had on workplace processes, procedures, and the ways employers recruit, hire, train, and retain people with disabilities in the workforce. The data also compare the perspectives of supervisors today with their counterparts surveyed in 2017.
The 2020 Recent College Graduates survey reports on the experiences of the first “ADA Generation” in the workplace. It compares the college experiences and work lives of graduates with and without disabilities. The survey also identifies disparities in career choices and employment outcomes.
The 2017 Supervisor Perspectives survey was the first to review workplace practices from the perspective of supervisors of employees with and without disabilities. Researchers learned the effectiveness of approaches used by employers to recruit, hire, train, and retain people with disabilities.
The 2015 first survey in this series identifies strategies that Americans with disabilities use to search for work and navigate barriers, accommodations that are helpful to obtain and maintain employment, and factors that contribute to unemployment. These findings have helped reframe the traditional dialog about disability and employment.
Center Team
