What improvement on the employment front for people with disabilities?
While we can rejoice at the 6-point drop in the unemployment rate for people with disabilities in 5 years (13% at the end of the first quarter of 2022 according to Pôle emploi), we can only deplore the fact that there are still two times greater than that of the French working population.
However, there are some reasons for optimism.
- First, more than 107,000 people with disabilities (PD) were recruited in the first half of 2022. That is + 13% in one year, unheard of. The shortage of talent in certain sectors clearly pleads in favor of this increase in recruitment. In the Agefiph x Ifop study on “Full employment for people with disabilities” published on the occasion of the European Disability Employment Week (EDEW), 64% of employers surveyed believe that recruitment difficulties could encourage them to hire workers with disabilities. Of which a third “very certainly”. And this, particularly in the sectors in tension that are the hotel and catering, transport and digital.
- Another reason for rejoicing: the optimism displayed (and new) by some of the disabled workers themselves. 18% of them think that full employment of disabled people is possible by 2027. So possible or not?
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Each SEEPH has its own set of corporate statements on the subject. We spotted a few:
Are digital companies recruiting more people with disabilities?
With a recruitment target of 59,200 executives in 2022 (Apec figures) but 67% of these recruitments considered difficult by the recruiters themselves, this is nothing to say that candidates are spoiled for choice if they seek a digital job. But what about candidates with a disability? Do not dream, the figures of retoqués candidates do not exist. But we have spotted a few seemingly virtuous companies:
- The payroll and HR software publisher ADP France today has an employment rate of 6% (the employment rate for handicapped persons required by the disability law) against 0.73% when the first disability agreement was signed. To achieve such a result (the employment rate of disabled people in the private sector is only 3.5%, source Dares), the company is increasing its sourcing actions for disabled candidates and developing an inclusive culture on a daily basis. . Launched in early 2022, the employee community called “Thrive” organizes workshops, testimonial sessions and round tables to raise employee awareness of various and varied disabilities.
- Still far from the 6% of the legal obligation, Assystem spares no effort to reach 3.5% of disabled people in its ESN workforce. Its new disability agreement (2022-2025) provides for the hiring of 30 PH. This objective had been exceeded on the previous agreement. The group’s International Diversity and Inclusion Charter also relies on training sessions for managers and employees who have an invisible disability.
- More broadly, to boost the integration of disabled people into digital professions, Agefiph and its partners APF France Handicap, the Amnyos group, Atlas, the training organizations Simplon and WebForce3, have just launched “J’agis”. This movement is part of the THalent digital program which aims to train and recruit 500 PH in digital professions. In the same vein, the Diversidays association has activated a new edition of DéClics Numériques for people with disabilities. Free and 100% digital, this two-week program facilitates professional retraining towards digital professions. In less than 2 years, 6,750 job seekers have been supported in this context. 20% found a job or training within 3 months.
Are transport/logistics companies recruiting more people with disabilities?
The digital sector is not the only sector in tension to mobilize (and to make it known) in favor of the employment of disabled people. By the end of 2022, the Sterne Group, specializing in transport and logistics, intends to double its workforce of disabled workers, by recruiting 30 PH on permanent contracts. While encouraging its employees with disabilities to declare themselves in order to obtain recognition as a disabled worker.
Do high-tech industries recruit more people with disabilities?
With an employment rate of people with disabilities of 6.69%, Thales Group is a good student on the subject. On the clock, 2,400 disabled employees, including 1,082 engineers and managers. What twist the blow to the idea that employers can not recruit PH because they do not have the level of diploma and skills required. At the head of the Thales Group’s Integration Mission, Gérard Lefranc doesn’t mince his words.
Let’s stop with the discourse “there are no candidates so we cannot meet our obligation to employ people with disabilities”. On the contrary, we must federate between companies to support young high school students towards higher education that will lead them into our societies. At Thalès, we recruit approximately 27 engineers with disabilities each year. Half come from the Atouts pour tous conventions. The others are spotted on employment forums, during exchanges with schools. Or from unsolicited applications received on the integration mission’s mailbox. I’m not saying it’s easy to boost the employment rate, I’m saying it’s entirely possible.
Gérard Lefranc, Mission Integration Manager of the Thalès group