Neurodiversity and Employment
Across the world, we're beginning to tap into the unearthed potential of the neurodivergent brain. Some of our most important inventions, pieces of art and music, and discoveries in the scientific field have come from neurodivergent minds.
Global giants of the worlds of business, science, and technology, and the arts are actively seeking and recruiting neurodivergent talent not just because they must, but because they’re desperate to utilise our (often) heightened abilities in innovative thinking, problem solving, persistence, hyperfocus, and pattern recognition.
Leaders such as NASA, Google, Microsoft, SAP, EY, GCGQ, and IBM all have active recruitment and training programmes catered specifically to neurodivergent talent, recognising the unique talents that diverse ways of thinking bring to the table.
Yet despite an increasing awareness and understanding of hidden differences, neurodivergent individuals continue to be critically under-served in the world of work.
Over 70% of autistic people are under- or un-employed, despite three quarters wanting to be in work. This population face the largest pay gap of all disability groups, receiving on average a third less than non-disabled people;
4 in 10 unemployed people using a Job Centre are dyslexic, and only 5% of supported working-age adults with a learning disability are in paid employment in the UK;
ADHD diagnosis reduces employment by 10%, earnings by 33%, and makes someone 60% more likely to lose their job;
Unemployment is 5x higher for people with Tourette’s;
People with neurological differences remain as a population the leading target for violence and general antagonism and workplace bullying;
Persistent evidence of disproportional representation within prisons, long term unemployment, and failure to achieve career potential.
Of those in work, nearly three-quarters (70%) of ND employees experience mental health issues in the workplace, and are having consistently more negative experiences of wellbeing, career satisfaction, and psychological safety than their neurotypical peers.