Two national organizations leading the charge for more employment opportunities for people with disabilities have joined forces to create a tool that helps businesses establish benchmarks toward achieving that goal. The American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) and U.S. Business Leadership Network (USBLN) announced their plan for the Disability Equality Index (DEI) back in [...]
Efforts to boost voter turnout by people with disabilities during the 2012 election cycle seems to have paid off in at least one New Jersey community, where a local organization reports that 84% of its members had their voices heard at the polls this past November. The figure far surpasses the national turnout of all [...]
Monthly unemployment statistics for the 2012 calendar year closed on a high-note for people with disabilities. According to Shaun Heasley’s article on Disability Scoop, the one-point drop reported by the U.S. Department of Labor “marked the fourth consecutive month that the unemployment rate declined” for these individuals. Despite some mid-year fluctuations, the 11.7% figure for [...]
There will be joy in Murrysville this year. Once winter turns to spring in this Pennsylvania community just east of Pittsburgh, the Bill Mazeroski Miracle Field will begin holding softball games for people with disabilities of all ages. According to staff writer Daveen Rae Kurutz’s article in the Murrysville Star, the field is the latest [...]
Judy Owens’ Diary of a Start-up blog for Forbes should be bookmarked by anyone interested in the employment outlook of people with disabilities. For over a year now, the St. Petersburg, Florida, entrepreneur has provided a running account of her launch of Opportunity Works, Inc., a job placement service for people with disabilities, and it has [...]
Hiring people with disabilities has been a healthy business decision for a gym in the New Orleans suburbs, improving the workplace while providing skills and work experience to these individuals and easing the demand on taxpayer-supported services. Kari Dequine Harden, who works in the New Orleans bureau of the Baton Rouge’s daily, The Advocate, visited [...]
Picking up where we left off yesterday in the examination of the Boston Globe online feature, “Products made in Massachusetts,” to see which ones might provide good employment opportunities for people with disabilities. Alden Rowing Shells This Boxborough manufacturer of recreational and competitive rowing shells and accessories is frequently credited as making the sport accessible [...]
Today, we continue looking at manufacturing companies listed in the Boston Globe online feature, “Products made in Massachusetts,” to find where people with disabilities might be a good fit for employment opportunities. Cubist Pharmaceuticals Much like HP Hood, the HR department for this Lexington drug manufacturer uses inclusive phrasing (“Reasonable accommodations may be made to [...]
Advocates for people with disabilities have focused a great deal of their recent efforts to boost employment opportunities for these individuals on the manufacturing sector. Labor Department officials and business leaders across the U.S. worked hard in 2012 to make the case that hiring these individuals, either through contract service organizations or as full-time employees, [...]
Yesterday’s post made a reference to employee resource groups (ERGs) at Northrop-Grumman being a key to their success providing employment opportunities to people with disabilities, both within the organization as well as through contract service organizations. Forming an ERG for people with disabilities is recommended by the Office of Disability Employment Policy in its publication [...]