12/14/21, 4:21 PM 'Disability Must Be Viewed As Strength, Not Burden' - The Times Of India - Mumbai, 12/14/2021 https://epaper.timesgroup.com/olive/odn/timesofindia/printarticle.aspx?doc=T OIM%2F2021%2F12%2F14&entity=ar01812&ts=20211214004037&. 1/2 Q&A 'Disability Must Be Viewed As Strength, Not Burden' Pandemic has widened the gap in societal inclusion. Companies need to be open to hiring all Globally, unemployment among people with disabilities is higher than the rest of the population. Jenny Lay-Flurrie, Chief Accessibility Of icer at Microsoft, explains to Sanjiv Shankaran ways to open the door to them: You once remarked that "you're never done with the journey of disability inclusion." How has the progress been over the last two decades? The pandemic has fuelled the disability divide, which is the gap in societal inclusion for people with disabilities, including in education, employment and access to technology. It's incumbent on us to keep putting disability inclusion at the forefront of our company mission. It will remain a journey until we get to the point where we have a bar of social equity and inclusion for people with disabilities across several different facets of life, particularly education and employment. How can the tech industry help people with disabilities remove hurdles towards employment? Research shows that people with disabilities are less likely to get an interview and are often screened out of the interview process. The United Nations states globally, in most developed countries, the official unemployment rate for persons with disabilities of working age is at least twice that for those who don't have a disability. This means we first need to acknowledge and be aware of bias and work towards changing the lens on disability. Disability is not a burden or something to tackle, disability is a skill and an expertise and should be viewed as a strength. The important part of this methodology is noticing when your companies' doors are closed throughout the hiring process and finding ways to open those doors and be inclusive to all candidates. Microsoft has tapped into a larger talent pool among people with autism by removing the interview requirement for them. What are other blockers? We've methodically opened doors in several ways to empower people with disabilities in the workforce. We also know that in parts of the US and around the globe, people with disabilities can be paid less than minimum wage, or "subminimum wage" - sometimes as little as cents on the dollar. At Microsoft, all of our hires make at least minimum wage, and we require all of our suppliers to do the same because we believe in fair wages for all. Other ways that companies hiring committees can ensure their process holistically empowers everyone to be able to apply and submit their CV, to be able to be a part of any kind of interview or process, to get the right skills to get the desired jobs means that websites need to be accessible, videos need to be captioned, managers should be educated and aware of disability and have the resources available to support all employees to be successful. What is your advice for people with less visible disabilities? I have a couple of less visible disabilities. I'm profoundly deaf and I also have a blood clotting disorder that really renders my leg, depending on the day, to work or not work, so I feel this on a personal level 12/14/21, 4:21 PM 'Disability Must Be Viewed As Strength, Not Burden' - The Times Of India - Mumbai, 12/14/2021 https://epaper.timesgroup.com/olive/odn/timesofindia/printarticle.aspx?doc=T OIM%2F2021%2F12%2F14&entity=ar01812&ts=20211214004037&. 2/2 and witness it in the workplace. My personal journey showed me I needed to acknowledge my disabilities as separate and advocate for what I need to be successful in the workplace. Since my disabilities are less visible, it meant self-identifying to make sure I was set up for success in any forum. At this point in my life, I'm not worried about other people's bias or expectations, but I do think there's always a question mark when you have a less visible disability of whether to self-identify or not. Do you ask for the help that you may need? And I think the biggest piece of advice I can give on that is to do your research on a company and understand how they view disability. Do they view it as a strength in a talent pool? Have they taken steps to make their environment accessible? Do they really believe in disability, diversity and inclusion principles? And if they do, and you see that the support constructs are there, then take the steps to self-identify and make sure that you are given that fair shot through the hiring process and identify what accommodations you need to be successful.
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