Did you know that 48.1 million Americans 
have a disability and 24.1 million have what is considered a severe disability? That’s a huge number of people and most organizations don’t make recruiting and hiring them a priority. This means that you could be utilizing a huge pool of untapped talent your competitors aren’t.
Of course, you should always hire the best person for the job. But sometimes that might be someone with a disability. It might seem onerous to adapt your processes and work space to their needs; however, once you have these processes in place it gets easier and there are some big dividends.
They can help you serve customers with disabilities
There are so many people living with a disability in our society who often feel the businesses don’t adequately address their needs. This means that hiring someone with a disability to help serve them has direct benefits for your bottom line. Whether it’s in direct customer service, improving your website to make it more accessible or helping to develop your marketing strategy, insight into this customer base has a lot of benefits.
Disabled workers are less likely to leave
If you hire someone with a disability and they are happy in their role, they are much less likely to leave your organization. Staff retention is reportedly 72% higher among workers who have a disability. They are also more likely to be satisfied at their jobs, with evidence also suggesting attendance and productivity are higher.
They have a unique perspective
People living with a disability have encountered barriers throughout their entire life. So you never know what kind of insights they might have for a particular problem that people who don’t share their experiences overlook. Since bringing diverse perspectives to the table is always a good idea for organizations, you should consider how people with a disability can contribute in this way.
You gain a reputation as a progressive employer
Whether it’s among potential employees or your customers, having a reputation as a progressive employer can have a lot of benefits. You don’t need to scream from the rooftops because you’ve hired someone living with a disability, but a little self-promotion has never hurt anyone. As research shows that more and more consumers and employees want the values of a business to align with their own, it’s becoming a key part of any successful entreprise.