Job-Seeking Tennesseans with Disabilities Find Helping Hand
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November 20, 2009
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - As the nation's unemployment rate hovers above the ten percent mark, the rate for Tennessee's job hunters with disabilities is even higher. It's the theme of an on-going disability employment awareness campaign, which also urges workers with disabilities not to give up on job searches.
Mike Rowe, community work incentive coordinator, for the Tennessee Disability Coalition's Benefits to Work program, says, until recently, he was very successful placing workers with disabilities into new jobs, but he acknowledges the field of competition has changed. Applicants now have to preservere, he says.
"Folks with disabilities, the newly disabled, and folks getting into the job market for the very first time are having a real rough time of it."
Even when employers know there will be little or no cost, qualified potential employees with disabilities are often still overlooked, he adds.
"A lot of employers just don't want to deal with the allowances some employees who have disabilities require to allow them to work."
Employers often shy away from qualified applicants with disabilities because they are afraid that workplace accommodations will be expensive. The Job Accommodation Network calls that a "misperception," because their research shows nearly half of all job accommodations cost nothing to implement. If there is a cost, advocates say nearly 80 percent of projects have a price tag under $500.
Employment resources are available on the Tennessee Disability Coalition's Web site at www.tndisability.org/coalition_programs/benefits_work.