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Overlooked and underutilized: People with disabilities are an untapped human resource
Author(s) -
LengnickHall Mark L.,
Gaunt Philip M.,
Kulkarni Mukta
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
human resource management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.888
H-Index - 94
eISSN - 1099-050X
pISSN - 0090-4848
DOI - 10.1002/hrm.20211
Subject(s) - baby boomers , business , human resources , resource (disambiguation) , marketing , human resource management , demographics , public relations , labour economics , management , political science , sociology , economics , computer science , computer network , demography
The retirement of baby boomers along with a smaller cohort group of young people replacing them poses a challenge for employers in the future—where will they find the workers they need? One largely untapped source of human resources is people with disabilities (PWDs). Why have employers mostly ignored this large labor pool? This research used a semistructured interview approach with 38 executives across a broad array of industries and geographic regions to examine why employers don't hire PWDs and what they believe can be done to change this situation. Results show that most employers are not very proactive in hiring PWDs and that most employers hold stereotypical beliefs not supported by research evidence. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.