October 2003

Dispelling Myths of An Untapped Workforce: A Study of Employer Attitudes Toward Hiring Individuals with Disabilities

People with disabilities represent a largely untapped labor pool for employers today. Yet despite laws such as the Americans with Disabilities Act, the unemployment rate for citizens with disabilities remains at a staggering 65% nationwide. Florida is home to over 2 million people with disabilities, of which more than five hundred thousand still remain jobless. Many job seekers with disabilities feel that employers' attitudes and misconceptions are the major barriers that keep them from working. And employers today who do hire people with disabilities often consider these employees some of the most loyal and hardworking members of their workforce. This research report, A Study of Employer Attitudes Toward Hiring Individuals with Disabilities, provides information about perceptions employers in Florida have about working with people with disabilities, as well as the challenges they face in recruitment, developing policies and finding support systems.