Skip over main navigation
  • Sign up
  • Log in
  • Basket: (0 items)
Employment Autism
  • Search
  • Twitter
Contact us Donate now
  • Twitter
Menu
  • START HERE
    • I am an autistic person
      • I am not in work
      • I am preparing to look for work
      • I am applying for work
      • Understanding interviews and the selection process
      • I am about to start work
      • Being in the workplace
      • I am sick or have a concern
      • I am moving on from my job
    • I am a work provider
      • Recruiting autistic employees
      • Managing autistic employees
    • Autistic people and work
      • The case for employing autistic people
      • Inclusivity and universal design
      • Autism, employment and the law
      • Reasonable adjustments and employer duties
  • ABOUT US
    • Mission statement
    • Meaningful activity
    • The terms we use
    • About our website
    • Message from the chair
    • Support us
  • TOOLS AND RESOURCES
    • About tools and resources
    • External resources
  • EMPLOYMENT STORIES
    • Stories by autistic workers
      • Employee case study - Ministry of Justice
      • Dean Beadle - autistic freelance speaker
      • Employee case study - IBM
    • Employer experience
      • Employer case study - Investment bank
      • Agency case study - Aspiring Solicitors
      • Britain's secret workforce
  • FEEDBACK
    • Let us know your views
    • Contact us
  • Admin
    • Log in
  • Basket: (0 items)
  1. START HERE
  2. Autistic people and work
  3. The case for employing autistic people

The case for employing autistic people

Why hire autistic staff?

A 2019 report revealed that 68% of UK employers struggle to find the right workers. Meanwhile, rough estimates show that 16% of autistic adults are currently in full time, paid employment. Although this number is a vast underestimate at best, it is still clear that the majority of autistic people are not a part of the workforce. There is a clear gap here but companies are increasingly recognising that committing to working towards a more diverse and inclusive workplace is critical to success. Tapping into the talent pool of neurodivergent people is one of the ways to start. By increasing diversity and inclusion, a company will not only attract valuable employees, but also expand its customer base and enhance the company’s reputation. Employing autistic people will add value to and benefit your workplace whilst improving your management skills.

“Autistic members of staff are a brilliant thing to have, when enabled”

Ann Memmott - Autism Mythbusting


Autistic employees are often associated with a variety of characteristic skills such as being honest, reliable, punctual and highly productive. Aside from those noticeable benefits, several others are frequently identified by employers and managers with autistic people on their teams:

  • Autistic people often show high levels of loyalty
    • Autistic people recognise the struggle of finding meaningful activity/employment and will therefore tend to stay with one company for much longer. This can help increase overall morale in the company and motivate all employees to value their jobs
  • Autistic people are known to look at things differently
    • In doing so they often have excellent attention to detail and memory which help them be accurate and notice errors that may have otherwise been overlooked
  • Logical thinking patterns and creative thinking skills help autistic people find innovative ways of solving problems
    • Autistic people will often accept alternative solutions and work out how to solve a problem in ways others may never have thought of. The willingness to experiment and adapt can motivate other employers as well and strengthen teamwork across the company.

Autistic people are present in every industry in every role type - no two people are alike and every individual has their own strengths, skills and needs

Potential barriers

Unfortunately, there are still potential barriers in hiring and managing autistic people. There can be various reasons for this but the most common are:

  • A lack of understanding of the scope of the valuable talent available
  • A lack of understanding of potential benefits
  • Misconceptions about the potential costs of employing neurodivergent people

While it is true that it might require a different approach to employ autistic people and that reasonable adjustments might be necessary, these misconceptions are excluding potential employees who are the best fit for a particular position. Knowing and understanding the benefits of employing autistic people will help break down those common barriers.

What are the benefits to my organisation of employing autistic staff?

With greater loyalty, motivation and dependability comes other benefits as well. An inclusive leadership ensures different cultures and social backgrounds are represented in the workplace. Employing autistic people will not only help your company become truly inclusive but also have potential cost-saving benefits as well.

Organisations with autistic employees say they have:

  • Improved overall company image
  • Increased their competitive company image which have helped expand customer base to all who prioritise services that are inclusive of neurodivergent people
  • Enhanced company reputation and stronger patronage with brand loyal customers
  • Improved safety records
  • Helped make sure every employee is likely to feel heard and respected for their opinions and work

In companies with well-established disability community outreach programmes in place, employee turnover is up to 30% lower than the companies without. In addition, these companies are two times more likely to outperform their peers in terms of total shareholder returns. Although people with disabilities may require some sort of job accommodation or reasonable adjustment e.g., specialised equipment, facility modifications, adjustments to work schedules or job duties, most adjustments are either free or inexpensive to implement and will be offset by lower staff turnover and improved productivity.

Bibliography:

https://hbr.org/2017/05/neurodiversity-as-a-competitive-advantage

https://annsautism.blogspot.com/2018/04/autism-mythbusting-employment.html

https://theconversation.com/why-employing-autistic-people-makes-good-business-sense-39948

https://incluzy.com/benefits-employing-individuals-autism/

https://www.accenture.com/t20181029T185446Z__w__/us-en/_acnmedia/PDF-89/Accenture-Disability-Inclusion-Research-Report.pdf

https://www.globaldisabilityrightsnow.org/tools/universal-design-access-justice

 

 

 

If you have any comments or suggestions for us, please contact us

Please let us know your views

Published: 20th April, 2020

Updated: 13th November, 2020

Author: Hilary Fertig

Share this page
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Latest

  • Employee case study - IBM

    IBM employee talks about his career IT, having started with them as a graduate trainee in 2018 as a Technical Solution Manager

  • Feedback menu

  • About tools and resources

    This section will be updated over time. We would like your input on what you would like to see in this area and what you would find useful.

  • Support us

Most read

  • Sample page post

    This is summary text, it is best kept to under 100 characters and should include keywords for SEO.

  • Sample event post

    This is summary text, it is best kept to under 100 characters and should include keywords for SEO.

  • Sample event post

    This is summary text, it is best kept to under 100 characters and should include keywords for SEO.

  • Sample page post

    This is summary text, it is best kept to under 100 characters and should include keywords for SEO.

  • Sample event post

    This is summary text, it is best kept to under 100 characters and should include keywords for SEO.

  • Accessibility

  • Privacy Policy

    PRIVACY POLICY - place holder page

  • Donate

    We are very grateful for your support which will go directly to helping us improve our services.

  • Cookie Policy

  • Telling an employer that you are autistic: disclosing

    Disclosing (telling others) that you are autistic is a big decision. Even telling your friends is a big decision for some people. You have the choice whether to disclose or not to your employer or prospective employer.

Latest tweet

Sign up to receive news and information about us

Please enter your first name
Please enter your last name
Please enter your email address Please enter a valid email address (e.g. [email protected])

Find us

Registered Office: 12 Hillbrow, New Malden, Surrey, KT3 4HT
+44 (0)7703 666401
[email protected]

Links

  • Sitemap
  • Accessibility
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy

Follow us

  • Twitter

Registered Charity number: 1096508

Creative Commons Licence
www.employmentautism.org.uk by Employment Autism is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License


Disability Confident Badge