Trends in inclusive employment
On June 6, 2023, Victoria Antonova, a Leading Research Fellow at the Laboratory, was invited by the "Open Yourself" project took part in the public talk "Trends in inclusive employment".
It was the final event of the program for people with disabilities who want to build a career.
The program participants who registered on the "Open Yourself" platform could study topics related to employment: how to maintain their motivation, determine criteria for job search, make a resume, pass interviews, what to pay attention to in the employment contract and much more. All topics were accompanied by a video clip, subtitles and text transcription, as well as additional materials that can be downloaded.
Ilya Patichenko, Head of the program of the Quality of Life division of the Agency for Strategic Initiatives, Denis Rosa, Chairman of the Regional Public Organization of Disabled People "Perspektiva", and Tamara Safaraleeva, Deputy Head of the Employment Promotion Department of the St. Petersburg State University of the Employment Center, were also invited to participate in the public talk.
The experts offered their vision of how to characterize the current state of affairs with inclusive employment in Russia, primarily in business companies. Then we moved on to discussing possible prospects for cooperation between business and NGOs in the employment of people with disabilities. Drawing on expert and research experience, the participants of the discussion expressed consensus that there is no ideal scheme of cooperation between all stakeholders that would lead to the rapid spread of inclusive culture and inclusive practices in companies. It is necessary to take into account a significant range of factors, both internal and external, that affect the entry of businesses into inclusive employment processes in different ways.
At the same time, as suggested by Victoria Antonova, it is extremely significant to recognize a step to intensify informing society in general and the business community, in particular, about the importance of inclusive values as such, and inclusive practices that companies implement. All participants of the discussion agreed that actively drawing attention to the inclusive agenda of the maximum number of actors, including people with disabilities themselves, employment centers, NGOs, should lead to an increase in the number of attempts by businesses to try to hire people with disabilities and together with them go through the path of inclusive employment, and then inclusive professional and career development of such an employee. Along this path, companies will need the knowledge and support of inclusion leaders in order, among other things, to overcome a significant number of stereotypes formed by businesses regarding problems that they can acquire together with an employee with a disability. It is also impossible to do without the competent assistance of NGOs, public and private centers and employment agencies.
The exchange of successful experience, as well as the analysis of mistakes made, will motivate businesses to develop inclusive employment practices. NGOs that have significant experience in supporting people with disabilities on their way to employment are ready to cooperate with both business and the state in order to make inclusive employment as successful as possible for both the company and the candidate with disabilities.
Formulating her expert position on the topic of the discussion, Victoria Antonova introduced participants and listeners to the results of the All-Russian survey of HR managers (senior and middle managers) conducted by The world-class Human Capital Multidisciplinary Research Center in December 2021 and devoted to the specifics of inclusive policies of companies and practices of inclusive employment, as well as diversity management in business in general.
In conclusion, all participants of the expert meeting expressed confidence that if we move in this direction, then after a while expert discussions about inclusion in the labor market will not be relevant, since inclusion will become the norm. As Denis Rosa said at the end of the public talk: "Inclusions – to be!".
Note that according to the organizers, at the time of the end of the broadcast of the meeting in the VKontakte community at 16:45, on June 6, 244 people watched it.