Unlocking inclusive hiring: understanding employers’ decisions about hiring people with disabilities

Abstract

People with disabilities get hired less than people withoutdisabilities. One cause is that employers decide not to offerjobs to people with disabilities. This mixed-methods studyaims to shed light on this through 18 interviews withemployers, policy workers, and people with disabilities(Study 1) and a survey of 507 employers (Study 2). We studycapabilities, opportunities, and motivations. These are dimen-sions of the COM-B model, a framework that integrates dif-ferent theories to understand behavior. Capabilities (C) referto an employer’s knowledge and skills relevant to hiringpeople with disabilities. Opportunities (O) refer to the envi-ronment in which an employer operates, while motivations(M) involve plans and evaluations as well as emotions.Together, these dimensions influence behavior (B). We findthat capabilities and opportunities impact hiring peoplewith disabilities, but motivations remarkably do not.Regarding capabilities, employers have limited knowledgeabout regulations. Employers also lack knowledge aboutpeople with disabilities. Regarding opportunities, employersindicate that suitable positions are unavailable, and thattheir organizations lack inclusion policies. Improving thecapabilities and opportunities of employers could help tounlock inclusive hiring.