Initiative to increase employment opportunities for disabled people

According to Hutton, employers should make use of the wide pool of resources and skills that disabled employees have to offer. The new initiative, 'Employ Ability', will highlight the benefits of employing disabled people and dispel some of the myths. With over 600,000 vacancies in the British economy waiting to be filled, Hutton believes that employers may be missing out on talented and motivated staff if they refuse to look at disabled workers as a solution to their staffing needs. Hutton said: “I believe we need to go further in getting employers themselves to do more in supporting both recruitment and retention of disabled people. “However, we will not succeed in changing the attitudes of employers by simply placing additional burdens on them. It has to be about enabling them to see and benefit from the huge potential that disabled people have to offer and the difference that they can make to an employer's bottom line.” Employ Ability will be piloted in the four cities of Leeds, Bradford, Manchester and Liverpool from September before being rolled out nationally next year. It will advise employers not only on best practice in recruiting disabled employees but also in retaining current employees who become disabled while in the job - this is necessary in order to prevent those employees from having to leave their job. The current employment rate of disabled people is 50% compared to 74% for non-disabled people.