We’ve formed a new partnership with Albertina Kerr Centers, Port City Development Center, and Bethesda Lutheran Communities to expand the nationally-acclaimed Project SEARCH program in the Portland metro area. Our four organizations will combine resources to work together with large local businesses to improve employment opportunities for people with developmental disabilities.
On the heels of a U.S Labor Department effort to encourage federal contractors to hire a minimum number of disabled workers or face penalty, the Wall Street Journal reported that a number of companies have “flooded the department with complaints that the rule amounts to a first-ever government quota for hiring disabled workers that would expose them to a thicket of legal pitfalls.” Bayer Corporation’s CEO Greg Babe responded with his two cents, maintaining his company’s support of the effort in contrast to what appeared to be a uniform distaste for the new policy by businesses—perhaps due to misconceptions about what employing people with disabilities really means. Babe makes a great point about our larger community: “Fifty million people with disabilities represent a broad cross-section of job seekers and a target market for goods and services.”
For all of the reasons to employ people with disabilities—and make a concerted effort to overcome misconceptions in order to do so—support for a business’ bottom line is the best way to get through to the vast majority of employers. If it makes good business sense, they’ll get on board.
Want more information about our employment of people with disabilities? Read more here.
HR education & career resource OnlineHumanResources.Net (OHR) highlighted our Strategic Plan in a recent blog post, stating that our grand plans for expansion of revenue and employment of people with disabilities is good news for people in human resources. OHR emphasizes the point that “hiring people with disabilities is not only an ethical, and socially responsible thing to do, it also helps make a profit for your company.” This is, of course, what DePaul Industries is based on.
OHR continues: “The ADA, USBLN and many other federal organizations have made the information available for the business case for hiring people with disabilities for quite some time; it was just a matter of time before major enterprises such as DePaul Industries acted on this knowledge. After … news of the $1.37-$1.94 trillions lost each year due to the lack of people with disabilities in the workforce, this comes as a sigh of relief.”
This is important for anyone in HR to know: Your business can reap financial benefits from hiring people with disabilities — not just social and ethical ones. For DePaul, it’s not just a theory — it’s a proven practice.
To read the full blog post, click here. Many thanks to Online Human Resources for the support.
Interested in learning more? Contact us to find out more about our temporary staffing employees.
To coincide with the start of 2012, our 41st year, DePaul Industries is proud to announce our entrance into the blogosphere.
We’ll be providing news and updates related to our staffing, security, and food packaging & contract manufacturing businesses; as well as our momentum in the social entrepreneurial sector. Keep your eye out for special features such as new job openings, tips on outsourcing for your business, customer testimonials, and news related to employment—
with a special emphasis on employment of people with disabilities.
With our eye toward future expansion and more engaged communication, this blog’s objective will be to communicate the business and social change activities of DePaul Industries and its cohorts.
Interested in receiving regular updates? Subscribe to our feed by using the link to the right for news from DePaul Industries. Stay tuned!
