Inclusion of People with Disabilities within Enterprises in Times of Digitization

Almost 30 percent of all companies also see new opportunities for the employment of people with disabilities through digitization. What is striking is that companies that are already relying heavily on digitization are more optimistic about this than companies without any reference to digitization.

Digitization is already making everyday work easier for people with disabilities. In particular, mobile devices for location-independent working, such as notebooks, and online communication services for exchanging information within a team, such as WhatsApp, are seen as a great relief by company representatives. 20 percent of all companies use digital technologies to support people with disabilities in their everyday work.

People with disabilities can be found in all industries and company sizes. In almost 35 percent of all companies surveyed, at least one employee had a physical disability. People with a learning disability were represented in 27 percent of the companies surveyed. 7 percent of the companies employed people with a mental disability. Across all forms of disability, large companies employ people with disabilities more frequently than small and medium-sized enterprises.

Information makes it easier for companies to employ people with disabilities. However, only just under 60 percent of all companies with experience in employing people with disabilities are sufficiently informed about disabled-friendly work design, such as assistive devices. Even only 45 percent state that they have sufficient information for recruiting new employees with disabilities. Digital portals such as www.kofa.de and www.rehadat.de may help companies.