Solely 25% of individuals with disabilities are employed: Report

New Delhi, July 14th (IANS): Only 25 percent of people with disabilities (PwD) were employed in any sector, according to a report from research firm UnearthInsight, which highlights the untapped potential of the PwD workforce in India.

The Unused Potential of India’s People with Disability (PwD) Workforce report showed that India has nearly 3 million people with PwD, of which approximately 1.3 million are employable PwD talents (over 21 and less than 60 years old). However, there are currently only 34 lakh PwD talents employed in the organized, unorganized, government-run systems and the self-employed sectors.

Technology and retail are leading the way in qualifying and creating employment opportunities for the PwD talent pool. Organized retailing employs over 13,000 PMD specialists, while the technology sector (IT services, product / GCC) employs more than 8,000 PMD specialists. The banking and financial services sector is an emerging employer for PwD talent.

While the SBI is PwD’s largest employer in the back and front office, TCS and Accenture are the larger employers in the IT services sector, and SAP and Microsoft lead the highly skilled PwD technical talent in the software product industry.

The country has a potential workforce of 340,000 non-tech graduates such as BA / Bcom, Polytechnic and Diplom who could be qualified and brought into the mainstream service and knowledge industries to increase per capita income.

Another 17,000 PwD students have degrees in engineering / computer science and focused degree programs, of which the IT services sector employs approximately 8,000 PwD people, while the software products sector employs approximately 5,500 and alternative technology employs approximately 3,500 PwD talents.

“The contemporary business strategy for expanding the talent pool is geared towards realizing the ideals of diversity and inclusion in the workplace. PwD’s workforce is more resilient and engaged, and companies are more interested in investing and working to create a skilled workforce with diverse backgrounds and not limited to Tier I cities, “said Gaurav Vasu, Founder and CEO of UnearthInsight.

“There is still a long way to go though, as India sits on a huge PwD talent pool that can play an important role in the PwD population,” he added.

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