India Inc is taking steps to recruit more people with disabilities

Wells Fargo, Hinduja Global Solutions and Flipkart are among those that offer facilities including accommodation, assistive technologies, and regular evaluation sessions to enable PwDs to integrate themselves in the workforce. (Image Credit: Pixabay)

Companies in India are hiring more persons with disabilities (PwD) and taking steps beyond providing mere physical infrastructure to accommodate their needs as they seek to become more inclusive.

Wells Fargo, Hinduja Global Solutions and Flipkart are among those that offer facilities including accommodation, assistive technologies, and regular evaluation sessions to enable PwDs to integrate themselves in the workforce.

Growth in hiring of PwDs rose to 4 percent in the second quarter of FY23 from 1 percent in Q4 of FY22, according to Quess General Staffing. About 14 percent of the PwD beneficiaries are females and there is a notable increase in e-commerce, retail, BFSI (banking, financial services and insurance) and manufacturing clients hiring PwD candidates.

India has almost 30 million persons with disabilities (PwD), of whom 13 million are employable. However, only about 3.4 million of them are working in the organised sector, the unorganised sector, and government-led schemes or are self-employed, according to market intelligence firm Unearthinsight.

There were 30-32 people with disabilities for every 10,000 employees between FY18 and FY21, according to a Business Standard analysis. This figure declined to 29 for FY22, the lowest in five years.

Bridging challenges

The common challenges faced by PwD workers include lack of accessible facilities, limited availability of assistive technologies, and negative attitude, Quess General Staffing CEO Nitin Dave said.

He said Indian companies can bridge these challenges by providing equal opportunities for advanced education programmes and by creating awareness about the potential of PwD and the opportunities available to them.

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“Businesses can also foster a more inclusive environment by offering their PwD employees fair accommodation, resources, and support,” he said.

Wells Fargo India, which has offices in Bengaluru, Chennai, and Hyderabad, promotes campaigns to attract a broad and diverse range of talent and conducts targeted hiring drives typically twice a year, independently or in partnership with a community organisation.

Wells Fargo focuses on attracting talent from the broader neurodiversity spectrum (including autism, ADHD, bipolar disorder, dyslexia). It achieved a milestone in India last March with 14 individuals onboarded as fulltime employees and is launching the second cohort soon.

“With the help of a community partner, EnAble India, we mapped market readiness and skills of candidates across the neurodiversity spectrum and performed an intensive job role analysis to identify suitable roles internally that would set up the individuals for success,” a Wells Fargo India & Philippines spokesperson told Moneycontrol.

Over the past two years, Wells Fargo has hired over 100 people through the targeted drives for PwD in India alone, over and above the organic hiring throughout the year.

IT company Hinduja Global Solutions developed a fitment assessment for each business, identifying specific disability profiles that will enable optimal performance in relevant roles.

Once PwD candidates are hired, the company ensures that facilities such as ramps, accessible restrooms, height-appropriate desks and seats, software for visual disabilities, provisions and training are made available to them.

The company has a 30-60-90-day performance evaluation mechanism for them. Hinduja Global has 131 PwDs in its workforce in India and the Philippines.

“We also enquire about reasonable accommodation they may need in the workplace,” said Shilpa Sinha Harsh, SVP – global corporate communications at Hinduja Global. “This practice has helped us in attracting and retaining a lot of PwD employees.”

Sign language

Walmart-owned e-commerce company Flipkart started a programme for PwD hiring in 2017 to integrate them into the supply chain ecosystem workforce.

The company set up a delivery centre exclusively for PwDs who manage all the operations of the facility. A pilot project that started with a few PwDs now employs about 2,100 PwDs across the supply chain.

“We also have a programme that coaches staff members on sign language to enable them to effectively communicate with our PwD employees,” said Prajakta Kanaglekar, vice President – Ekart HR Leader.

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For the safety of PwD employees, emergency features are enabled on their smartphones, an emergency number is printed behind the flashcards, reflective jackets and special lanyards for visual identification are provided for PwD workers, Kanaglekar said.

Long way to go

Though most organisations are trying to become truly inclusive, Harsh from Hinduja Global said there’s still a long way to go. She conceded that PwD employees still experience many challenges, including accessibility.

“Organisations have usually paid attention only to physical accessibility such as creating ramps, PwD-friendly parking, etc. However, there’s been minimal attention given to digital accessibility, which is equally important,” she said.

Visually and hearing-impaired employees face challenges in companies without digital accessibility. The sudden shift to remote working underscored the importance of accessibility like never before, Harsh explained.

“Offering financial support such as subsidies and grants on education, loans and health facilities will help PwD talent get the necessary training and resources needed to be successful in a formal job,” said Quess General Staffing’s Dave.