Germany: new initiative to promote the hiring of those with disabilities (in brief)

On 09 April, during the ‘Corporate Inclusion Award’ event, Germany’s Federal Employment Agency (BA), Employers’ Federation (BDA), Labor Ministry, and the Federal organization for social assistance and integration offices (BIH), launched a joint initiative aimed at raising corporate awareness on recruiting those with disabilities. The initiative in particular is targeting the some 41,000 companies that are not, for a variety of reasons, currently providing training or recruitment opportunities to those with disabilities. Across Germany approximately 160,000 companies are obliged to promote the recruitment of those with disabilities. As part of this initiative these companies will be made aware of and given information on this cohort’s innate potential and they will be encouraged to actively employ those with disabilities. “In spite of a healthy employment market, the unemployment rate in this cohort is significantly above the average level, and this despite the fact that jobseekers with disabilities have higher than average skills levels as well as the fact that in this current situation of almost full employment, companies are desperately seeking skilled workers. We have to solve this dilemma, but to do this we need more companies to provide more opportunities to those with disabilities,” emphasized Hubertus Heil (SPD), Federal labor Minister.