Disabled people could help fill worker shortages in manufacturing industries. Photo / LinkedIn, Nick Mowbray
Disabled people could help fill worker shortages in manufacturing industries. Photo / LinkedIn, Nick Mowbray
Thousands of disabled workers are set to help fill a growing skills shortage in New Zealand industries, after the release of new research.
The report, written by disabilities researchers and commissioned by Hanga-Aro-Rau and Waihanga Ara Rau, the Workforce Development Councils for manufacturing, engineering and logistics (MEL), follows Stats NZ data showing the workforce participation rate for disabled adults has declined from 45% to 44.7% over the past decade, while the rate for non-disabled adults has increased from 72% to 84.1%.
Disabled adults, along with Māori, Pacific peoples and women, are under-represented in the MEL sectors and are among the target populations identified as essential to filling workforce shortages.
Government figures show a fiscal benefit of $1.45 billion if the participation rate of disabled people in the labour market was equalised.
A planned $54b Crown investment in developing the nation’s infrastructure as well as construction and MEL sector growth is set to widen the combined industry skills gap by 51% to reach more than 432,000 workers by 2028.
The number of disabled adults in New Zealand represents a potential pool of more than 268,900 workers for these industries.
Disabled people can make major contributions to workplaces.
The Let’s Level Up study, which surveyed more than 300 employers and disabled workers throughout the regions to identify the barriers preventing a disability-inclusive workforce within the construction, infrastructure and MEL sectors, found many workers did not disclose they had a disability for fear of job loss or limitations to their career.
Researchers found efforts to increase the number of disabled people in an organisation through an individual’s goodwilloften reinforced the view of disability employment as charitable rather than an expected workforce feature.
The study showed employment processes often overlooked qualified disabled workers, requiring them to use non-traditional pathways to enter the workforce, such as family connections or job placement support.
Tangata whaikaha Māori and disabled Pacific people were among those who were less likely to benefit from these alternative pathways and faced further barriers to employment, with researchers noting that racism, sexism and ageism have a cumulative effect on disabled people.
Almost two-thirds (63%) of employers had never, or were unsure if they had, had a conversation about disability or considered employing more disabled people. Less than a quarter (23%) of managers said they followed disability-inclusive recruitment practices.
Employers also identified key barriers to growing the number of disabled workers, including a lack of suitable jobs, cited by 56% of managers. In addition, a lack of physical accessibility and a lack of knowledge of how to support disabled people and their recruitment were listed as barriers by 40% and 36% of respondents respectively. Other barriers identified by a seventh (13%) of employers included negative attitudes towards disabled people in the workplace and organisational cultures that make disability disclosures unsafe.
The researchers found some disabled workers went to extreme lengths to preserve their employment, including one who paid for for their own note-takers and assistants in the workplace, despite this leaving them with a lower income than would be found on an unemployment benefit.
Employers were also asked what interventions would make it easier for disabled workers to be hired, with the provision of more knowledge about disabled people in the workplace the most commonly requested mechanism for increasing their employment, requested by a third (32%) of those surveyed. The need for ongoing support of the employer and the disabled worker for six months after hiring was raised by 29% of managers. Almost a quarter (23%) of employers said they needed more legal advice around their obligations for hiring disabled workers, along with financial support when taking them on.
Director of the Donald Beasley Institute and University of Otago Research Associate Professor Brigit Mirfin-Veitch said the report provided a framework for understanding the complex interplay of individual impairments and societal factors in shaping the experiences of disabled people.
The research showed the most significant barrier to employing disabled people was attitudinal.
“Disabled individuals remain significantly under-employed and are far more likely to be unemployed compared to other New Zealanders.
“Some of the sectors covered in this study form the last frontier for the inclusion of disabled workers. These aren’t the industries that disabled people are expected to contribute to.
“This research shows that disabled people can and should be a part of industry. There is a perception that there are a lot of barriers to employing disabled people, the study’s findings show that they can typically be accommodated.
“A truly inclusive workplace doesn’t just accommodate disabilities on a case-by-case basis, it’s about being open to disability and showing everyone that diversity is embraced.
Hanga-Aro-Rau deputy chief executive Samantha McNaughton said the study was the first to compare the experiences of people with disabilities and employers within their industries.
“We know that around a quarter of the workforce could have an impairment. For most of these people, the disability is not visible, which can make it very hard for an employer to understand how to best support it. This has the potential to lead to tension or friction within the workplace - purely because people don’t understand how they need to communicate with each other.
“This research will be the very tip of the iceberg as we explore how the employment of disabled people could be improved, particularly within the construction, infrastructure, manufacturing, engineering and logistics sectors where the skills shortage is growing by the day.
