Here’s how Uber, Accenture are improving diversity by employing specially-abled persons

• The United Nations declared December 3 as the International Day of Persons with disabilities (PWD) to promote the rights and well-being of disabled people.
  
• Over 2% of Indians are differently-abled or have some sort of disability, according to the National Statistical Office (NSO).
  
• Accenture skilled over 23,000 persons with disabilities in India.
  
• Uber has 12 employee resource groups — including ‘Able at Uber’ — a community for employees living with disabilities.

The United Nations declared December 3 as the International Day of Persons with disabilities (PWD) to promote the rights and well-being of disabled people.

According to the National Statistical Office (NSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, over 2% of Indians are differently-abled or have some sort of disability. However, almost 80% of them are not employed in the workforce and merely 23% are employed as salaried employees, TOI reported.

This is despite a regulation that says PSUs must hire 4% of its employees from the category.

“Differently abled people, if skilled for the appropriate job roles, can perform better or at par with other employees. Employers with disabled workers consistently report that, as a group, persons with disabilities perform at par or better than their non-disabled peers on measures such as productivity, safety and attendance,” Neeti Sharma, senior vice president of TeamLease Services told Business Insider India.

Indian companies too are trying hard to address diversity and inclusion at workplace.

Technology major Accenture recognizes more than 60 types of disabilities as per the UN recommendations. Accenture has skilled over 23,000 persons with disabilities in India. It also rolled out a six-month internship to create a skilled talent pool of persons with disabilities.

Ride-hailing platform Uber is also promoting cultural values at workplace to boost participation. The idea is to support physical, mental, and emotional disabilities of employees.

“Each employee is encouraged to bring their authentic self to work and can personally drive change by volunteering in one of our 12 employee resource groups. These include ‘Able at Uber’ — community for employees living with disabilities,” Uber said.

But companies and organizations need to come together to change the dismally low employment numbers. And a mindset change needs to come in as well.

“It’s important to educate teams about the realities of the conditions the differently abled employees come with. Teams may require training or workshops on how to improve and diversify their communication styles and more effectively mentor, lead, and communicate with employees with disabilities,” added Neeti from TeamLease Services.

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