Tackling the widening autism employability gap

Author - Arlen Pettitt

Date published:

Daisy Chain, a Stockton-based charity addressing the needs of autistic children, adults and their families, is holding an employability summit on 16th Nov to bring together businesses and other partners to tackle a widening employability gap.

Despite successive attempts to create a level playing field for individuals with autism when accessing employment, recent reports show that the employability gap is widening further.

In the years since a National Autistic Society campaign in 2016, urging the government to act, autistic people in employment has dropped by 9% and Office for National Statistics reported that employment rates for autistic people are lower than for any other disability. Shockingly, almost 80% of autistic adults are unemployed.

Hayley Matthews, Head of Adult Services at Daisy Chain says, “The statistics present less of an employment gap for autistic people and more of an employment chasm. Employing neurodiverse individuals can bring bottom-line benefits for a business and there are so many businesses who are missing out.

“Our Autism Employability Summit will support businesses and organisations to enhance their access to autism talent by breaking down misconceptions around autism, shining a light the huge benefits of embracing a diverse workforce and empowering employers with the knowledge to create a culture of inclusion in their recruitment and workplace practices.”

North East-based autism charity, Daisy Chain has launched its Employability Summit, an event that takes place on Tuesday 16th November 2021.

The event is aimed at HR professionals, senior managers, and those with the ability to create change in relation to inclusion and diversity. Businesses are invited to come to support the organisation’s campaign to reduce the staggering employment gap that exists for autistic people.

Businesses place a high value on employees who are reliable and conscientious, who have great attention to detail, who have high levels of concentration and who have good technical skills, detailed factual knowledge and an excellent memory. Autistic candidates often possess greater than average skills in some, if not all, of these areas, as well as bringing their own unique skills, strengths, and perspectives to the table. In fact, a study by JPMorgan Chase found that autistic people are 90 to 140% more productive than ‘neurotypical’ employees and make fewer errors.

The event boasts an array of fantastic local and international speakers, such as a Tony Waters from Cummins, Kelly Grainger, co-founder of Perfectly Autistic who formerly worked for PepsiCo and Lee Corless who developed one of the world’s leading autism at work programmes whilst working for JPMorgan Chase.

This inspiring event has been made possible thanks to support from players of People’s Postcode Lottery.

If you’d like to break your business glass ceiling and find out more about recruiting autism talent, find out more information about Daisy Chain’s event and book your free place: http://employabilitysummit.eventbrite.co.uk

Find out more about Daisy Chain: www.daisychainproject.co.uk

Back to hub