Workforce for the Disabled Continues to Shrink

By Jennifer Zimmerman
Published Feb 13th, 2009 The Doings Western Spring

As the economy continues to push more and more Americans to the unemployment line, there are people such as LaGrange Park resident Joe Nelson who are faced with a particularly troubling situation.

"I can't say it's easier for someone without a disability to get a job," he said. "But I can say there are more opportunities available to them."

For people with developmental disabilities, locking down some form of permanent employment has become an increasingly difficult task in today's economy.

Nelson is one of 816,000 Americans with a disability who are without work, a number far above last year's figure of 761,000, according to the U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Positions once set aside for someone with a disability are being eliminated, and the employers usually open to hiring people similar to Nelson are being flooded with applicants with more defined skill sets.

"There are just so many factors playing into them getting a job and keeping it," explained Lisa Dziergas.

Dziergas is the director of community employment services at Westchester-based Aspire, an organization that specifically helps those with disabilities.

On a day-to-day basis she is working to identify what type of work environments her clients are comfortable in.

The idea is to set someone in a position to which certain factors associated with their disability, such as high anxiety or poor communication skills, won't work against them.

The only problem with this now is it narrows the job search to a very minimal level in a market already over taxed with all types of people also looking for work.

Companies are also looking for workers who are "cross trained," she said, meaning they need to balance multiple responsibilities. This is hard for some with a disability who might not be comfortable handling the additional workload.

And at the same time employers are busy themselves taking on additional work, so communicating directly with their workers is cut out. This is particularly difficult for someone with a disability who needs that extra support.

"I almost wish we could go back to the '90s because it was easier then," she said.

Nelson recognizes this is a bit of barrier for himself considering he needs to be at job that is very low pressure and doesn't require him to work with money. He also doesn't work well working with customers one-on-one.

"That's one thing I think has (made it difficult) for more getting certain job," he said.

Published online:
http://www.pioneerlocal.com/westernsprings/news/1430041,ws-jobloss-021309-s1.article