[Blindtlk] FW: [audioourplace] Job Numbers Reflect Increasing Inclusion of Americans with Disabilities in the Workforce

Sat Nov 11 22:15:28 UTC 2017

Original Message: 
From: "Linda Gehres" <ljgehres at att.net>
To: <AudioOurPlace at googlegroups.com>
Subject: [audioourplace] Job Numbers Reflect Increasing Inclusion of
Americans with Disabilities in the Workforce
Date: 
Sat, 11 Nov 2017 11:22:27 -0800

Job Numbers Reflect Increasing Inclusion of Americans with Disabilities
in the
Workforce

nTIDE October 2017 Jobs Report

EAST HANOVER, N.J. (PRWEB) November 03, 2017

"For the 19th consecutive month, the proportion of people with
disabilities
working has continued to grow, and once again, their gains are outpacing
those
of people without disabilities," according to John O'Neill, PhD, director
of
employment and disability research at Kessler Foundation.

The major economic indicators continue to reflect increasing inclusion of
Americans with disabilities in the workforce, according to today's
National
Trends in Disability Employment Monthly Update (nTIDE), issued by Kessler
Foundation and the University of New Hampshire's Institute on Disability
(UNH-IOD).

Results from a new national survey show that many employers have
implemented
practices and processes for recruiting, hiring, training, and retaining
people
with disabilities. The 2017 Kessler Foundation National Employment and
Disability Survey: Supervisor Perspectives underscores where success is
being
achieved and reveals opportunities for maximizing inclusion in the
workplace.

In the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Jobs Report released Friday,
November 3
, the employment-to-population ratio for working-age people with
disabilities
increased from 27.9 percent in October 2016 to 30.5 percent in October
2017 (up
9.3 percent; 2.6 percentage points). For working-age people without
disabilities, the employment-to-population ratio also increased from 73.1
percent in October 2016 to 73.7 percent in October 2017 (up 0.8 percent;
0.6
percentage points). The employment-to-population ratio, a key indicator,
reflects the percentage of people who are working relative to the total
population (the number of people working divided by the number of people
in the
total population multiplied by 100).

"For the 19th consecutive month, the proportion of people with
disabilities
working has continued to grow, and once again, their gains are outpacing
those
of people without disabilities," according to John O'Neill, PhD, director
of
employment and disability research at Kessler Foundation. "The duration
of this
upward trend shows that individuals with disabilities are striving to
work and
that the processes and practices employers are using to recruit and hire
people
with disabilities appear to be paying off," he added.

The labor force participation rate for working-age people with
disabilities
increased from 31.3 percent in October 2016 to 33.3 percent in October
2017 (up
6.4 percent; 2 percentage points). For working-age people without
disabilities,
the labor force participation rate also increased from 76.5 percent in
October
2016 to 76.6 percent in October 2017 (up 0.1 percent; 0.1 percentage
points).
The labor force participation rate is the percentage of the population
that is
working or actively looking for work.

"Although the job numbers remain positive, we need to remember that
people with
disabilities have yet to achieve their pre-Great Recession employment
levels,"
said Andrew Houtenville, PhD, associate professor of economics at UNH and
research director of the Institute on Disability. "Kessler Foundation's
2017
Survey, by identifying effective practices and processes for inclusion of
people
with disabilities in the workplace, provides new direction for efforts to
narrow
the employment gap between people with and without disabilities."

On October 10, 2017, results of the Kessler Foundation National
Employment and
Disability Survey: Supervisor Perspectives, were released on Capitol
Hill. More
than 3,000 supervisors responded to the survey, sharing their views about
their
employers' processes and practices for promoting success in the workplace
for
employees with and without disabilities. The results indicate how
effective each
of these processes and practices are for all employees, and provide new
information on what works for individuals with disabilities, and where to
focus
efforts to achieve greater progress.

"Looking at the practices that work for individuals with and without
disabilities is especially revealing," noted Dr. O'Neill. "Just as
universal
design makes spaces usable by all, these practices can make employment
more
accessible for everyone. Despite being viewed as effective, however, some
practices are being underutilized."

For example, only 40% of supervisors had access to training in accessible
application and interview techniques, although, in general, they viewed
this as
very effective and feasible to implement. Similarly, short-term outside
assistance was seen as very effective for training of all employees, but
used by
only 19% of companies. Supervisors reported working from home, flexible
scheduling and job sharing as effective accommodations for all employees,
but
implementation was limited in many companies.

"The survey results provide a new imperative," said Dr. O'Neill. "Better
implementation of effective practices is a pathway to greater employment
opportunities for individuals with disabilities."

The 2017 Survey was commissioned by Kessler Foundation and conducted by
the
University of New Hampshire Institute on Disability (UNH-IOD). This is
the first
survey to look at the effectiveness of these practices from the
perspective of
supervisors of employees with and without disabilities. Learn more at
https://www.kesslerfoundation.org/kfsurvey17.

In October 2017, among workers ages 16-64, the 4,721,000 workers with
disabilities represented 3.3 percent of the total 144,931,000 workers in
the
U.S.

The next nTIDE will be issued on Friday, December 8, 2017.

Join our nTIDE Lunch & Learn series today, November 3, at 12:00pm
Eastern. This
live broadcast, hosted via Zoom Webinar, offers attendees Q&A on the
latest
nTIDE findings, provides news and updates from the field, as well as
invited
panelists to discuss current disability-related findings and events. Drs.
Andrew
Houtenville and Kimberly Phillips of the University of New Hampshire will
join
Dr. O'Neill, and Denise Rozell, policy strategist at AUCD, to discuss
today's
findings from the 2017 Kessler Foundation National Employment and
Disability
Survey: Supervisor Perspectives (KFNEDS:SP). You can join live, or watch
the
recordings at: http://www.ResearchonDisability.org/nTIDE.

NOTE: The statistics in the nTIDE are based on Bureau of Labor Statistics
numbers, but are not identical. They are customized by UNH to combine the
statistics for men and women of working age (16 to 64). NTIDE is funded,
in
part, by grants from the National Institute on Disability, Independent
Living
and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) (9ORT5022 and 90RT5017) and Kessler
Foundation.

About Kessler Foundation

Kessler Foundation, a major nonprofit organization in the field of
disability,
is a global leader in rehabilitation research that seeks to improve
cognition,
mobility, and long-term outcomes - including employment - for people with
neurological disabilities caused by diseases and injuries of the brain and
spinal cord. Kessler Foundation leads the nation in funding innovative
programs
that expand opportunities for employment for people with disabilities.
For more
information, visit http://www.KesslerFoundation.org.

About the Institute on Disability at the University of New Hampshire

The Institute on Disability (IOD) at the University of New Hampshire
(UNH) was
established in 1987 to provide a coherent university-based focus for the
improvement of knowledge, policies, and practices related to the lives of
persons with disabilities and their families. For information on the
NIDILRR-funded Employment Policy and Measurement Rehabilitation Research
and
Training Center, visit http://www.ResearchonDisability.org.

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2017/11/prweb14880868.htm

-- 
Please do not discuss problems with group or members on the list. Please
contact owner at 
nance62lady at gmail.com
.
--- 
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
"AudioOurPlace" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an
email to AudioOurPlace+unsubscribe at googlegroups.com.
To post to this group, send email to AudioOurPlace at googlegroups.com.
Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/AudioOurPlace.
To view this discussion on the web visit
https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/AudioOurPlace/002a01d35b22%246a0b2f90%243e2
18eb0%24%40att.net.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.