A Key for Addressing Iowa's Workforce Needs
With a shrinking workforce, how will Iowa businesses attract qualified employees?
Recruiting and retaining qualified workers with disabilities is one strategy to counter the effects of Iowa’s aging and shrinking workforce. Persons with disabilities represent the single largest minority group needing employment in today’s market.
- Nationally, there are an estimated 50 million Americans with some level of disability representing 18% of the population. (U.S. Census Bureau, 2006)
- Approximately 193,000 working-age Iowans with disabilities (21 – 64 year olds) represents 12% of our state’s total population with the following breakdown of employment rates:
- Without Disabilities: 85.2%
- With Disabilities: 45.6% (Cornell University Disability Status Report, 2006)
- Most people with disabilities want to work - two out of three people with disabilities who are unemployed say they would prefer to be working. (N.O.H, Harris, 2000)
- 71% of Iowans with disabilities have a high school diploma or higher and 10.4% of Iowans with disabilities earn a bachelors degree or higher. (State Data Center of Iowa, 2006)
A Good Investment
The average cost of workplace accommodations in 2006
was $600 or less and the vast majority of workers with disabilities required no accommodations. (JAN, 2006)
- National studies show that individuals with disabilities have equal or higher job performance ratings, have higher retention rates and have lower absentee rates than employees without disabilities. (Unger, “Employer’s Attitudes,” 2002)
- The safety record of both employees with disabilities compared to employees without disabilities is identical. (DuPont Survey, 1990)
- Americans with disabilities have over $175 billion in discretionary spending power. (N.O.D./Harris Survey, 2004)
- 92% of the American public view companies that hire people with disabilities more favorably than those that do not, and 87% of the public also agree that they would prefer to give their business to companies that hire people with disabilities. (A National Survey of Consumer Attitudes Towards Companies that Hire People with Disabilities, 2005)