Disabled in workforce still not priority for India Inc, says study

Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) have become a priority for organisations the world over. Having a diverse workforce is not just a move in the right direction towards building a sustainable organisation, there is also a business case. Organisations are realising that their workforce needs to mirror their consumers so that they are able to innovate better and offer solutions for consumers across the pyramid. And diversity here is beyond gender, companies are going all out to hire people with disabilities, senior citizens as well as from varied racial backgrounds.

In India, however, the DEI agenda of organisations still has some ground to cover. According to a recent report by Randstad India, though 65% of companies in India have policies to hire and include people with disabilities, over 50% (of the 65%) of the companies are multinationals. Around 18.5% include private Indian firms, while only 4.48% of public sector companies have diversity and inclusion policies.

Over 67% of respondents from Indian public sector companies and 55% from Indian private sector companies mentioned that inclusion is present, but not mandated in their goals. Only 17% of the business leaders from public sector companies mentioned that their goals are aligned with inclusion. On the other hand, 53% of MNC leaders have aligned inclusion with their business goals. In fact, organisations such as Hindustan Unilever have set a goal of ensuring that close to 10% of their workforce comprises people with disabilities in the next couple of years.

Including people with disabilities doesn’t end with hiring them. Organisations also need to invest in creating the right kind of infrastructure for their employees with disabilities, and there is a clear gap there. Basic necessities for people with disabilities such as accessible toilets, technical aids and appropriate seating arrangements are present in less than 25% of the workspaces.

The Randstad study also reveals that when it comes to conscious hiring of people with disabilities, most of these happen at the junior (29.84%) and middle level (23.27%). Their presence in the organisational structure of the company diminishes in senior and management roles.

According to the quantitative survey, 27.2% of business leaders say that their organisations are collaborating with external groups to improve their inclusion of persons with disabilities. However, over 43% mentioned that they do not do this. There are a number of non-government organisations working in the space of upskilling people with disabilities to make them eligible for the job market. “This is an area that demands much stronger involvement from employers, to improve employability, as well as design stronger training & on-boarding policies internally,” points out the report.