Study suggests employers are blind to the abilities of the blind

by | Mar 20, 2013 | Social Security Disability |

There are many things that hiring manages and businesses must keep in mind when building its group of workers. There are laws that must be followed in order for the hiring process to be ethical and fair to candidates. Having a diverse workforce can be a significant strength to a company.

The Wall Street Journal reports on a study conducted by non-profit group National Industries for the Blind. NIB wanted to get a large picture of employment practices specifically related to the hiring (or lack of hiring) of legally blind Americans.

Concisely put, the study shows that U.S. businesses are not widely incorporating blind workers into the make-up of their companies. A significant portion of hiring managers surveyed reported that they thought blind workers would need more assistance and that they were more prone to get into workplace accidents.

NIB reports that about 70 percent of the 3.5 million blind, working-age Americans are unemployed. Some of the group might not want to find work or may be unable to work the jobs that they used to. While this statistic presents a possible employment discrimination problem in the country, it also serves as an opportunity to address social security disability insurance.

Legally blind Americans are generally eligible to receive SSDI benefits in order to have some financial security. Securing those payments, however, is not always easy and takes the aggressive support of a social security disability claims lawyer. Our Pennsylvania SSDI attorneys help people understand their benefit options and are committed to serving their best interests.

Source: The Wall Street Journal, “When It Comes to Hiring, Blind Workers Face Bias,” Leslie Kwoh, March 18, 2013

Archives