A person with a disability who is qualified for a job should not have to fight a second battle just to convince an employer that they can work.
Yet this happens every day.
A blind applicant may be asked how they will use a computer. A wheelchair user may be told that the office is on an upper floor without a lift. A deaf applicant may face an interview panel that has made no provision for communication. Someone with a physical disability may be rejected before the employer has even looked properly at their qualifications.
This is a waste of human ability, and businesses pay a price for it.
Hiring persons with disabilities is a matter of equality and human rights. It is also a sound employment decision. When employers remove unnecessary barriers, recruit on the basis of skills and provide reasonable accommodation where required, they gain access to people who can contribute to their organisations in the same way other employees do.
The International Labour Organization (ILO) has repeatedly pointed to the business case for disability inclusion. Its Global Business and Disability Network notes that companies can benefit from more diverse workforces, improved productivity, lower staff turnover, safer workplaces and better customer service when disability inclusion is taken seriously.
Disability should not be treated as a lack of ability
One of the biggest problems in the employment of persons with disabilities is the assumption that disability automatically means inability.
It does not.
A person’s disability may affect how they perform a particular task, but that does not tell an employer whether the person has the skills, education, experience or judgment required for a job.
A blind employee may use a screen reader instead of looking at a computer screen. A wheelchair user may need an accessible entrance and workspace. A deaf employee may communicate through Nigerian Sign Language, text, captions or another method. An employee with a different disability may need an adjustment to their working arrangements.
These are workplace arrangements. They are not evidence that the employee cannot do the job.
I know this personally. As a blind professional, I have worked with computers, accessibility tools, websites and assistive technology. The fact that I cannot see a computer screen does not prevent me from doing computer-based work. I use technology differently.
Employers need to start looking at the person first.
The employment gap is real
The barriers facing persons with disabilities in employment are well documented.
An ILO working paper published in 2024 found that persons with disabilities are less likely to participate in the labour market, face higher unemployment and are more likely to be self-employed. The research also found that working persons with disabilities earn less per hour on average. The ILO estimated an average disability wage gap of 12 percent per hour, with 9 percentage points of that gap not explained by differences in education, age or type of work.
The same research points to discrimination, inaccessible recruitment processes and inadequate workplace accommodation as some of the factors behind these differences.
Nigeria has its own employment problem.
The National Human Rights Commission has reported underrepresentation and underemployment of persons with disabilities in Nigeria’s labour market. It also noted that reliable employment data on persons with disabilities remains limited.
That lack of data is itself a problem. If employers and government do not know how many persons with disabilities they employ, where they work, what positions they hold and what barriers they face, it becomes difficult to measure progress.
Nigerian law already recognises the right to work
Nigeria’s Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities (Prohibition) Act, 2018 provides a legal basis for equal access to employment.
Section 28 states that a person with a disability has the right to work on an equal basis with others, including the opportunity to earn a living through work freely chosen or accepted in an open labour market.
Section 29 also provides that employers in public organisations should, as much as possible, have persons with disabilities constitute at least 5 percent of their employment.
Nigeria’s obligations also extend beyond domestic law. Article 27 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities recognises the right of persons with disabilities to work on an equal basis with others. It calls for open, inclusive and accessible workplaces, protection against discrimination in recruitment and employment, equal remuneration for work of equal value, career advancement and reasonable accommodation.
So this is not simply a question of whether a company feels generous enough to hire someone with a disability.
There is a right involved.
What businesses gain when they hire persons with disabilities
The business case deserves attention because employers need more than a moral argument when making decisions about recruitment.
They need to see what disability inclusion can mean for their organisation.
A larger pool of qualified workers
Employers who exclude persons with disabilities from recruitment automatically reduce the number of people they are willing to consider.
That makes little sense in a labour market where organisations are constantly looking for people with the right skills.
A person with a disability can be an accountant, lawyer, programmer, teacher, administrator, designer, customer service officer, journalist, engineer, researcher, salesperson or manager.
The disability does not determine the profession.
The person’s qualifications and skills do.
Better products and services
Who understands the problems faced by customers with disabilities better than someone who has experienced those barriers?
A blind employee may notice that a company’s website cannot be used with a screen reader. A deaf employee may identify problems with customer communication. A wheelchair user may see physical access barriers that other employees walk past every day.
This is particularly important as businesses increasingly depend on websites, mobile applications, digital banking, online shopping and other technology.
A company that has no persons with disabilities involved in its workforce may easily miss problems affecting millions of potential customers.
The ILO has noted that persons with disabilities and their families and friends can represent an overlooked customer group, while inclusive employment can contribute to diversity, creativity and workplace morale.
Better workplace practices
Some changes made for employees with disabilities make work easier for everyone.
Captions can help deaf employees and also help people working in noisy environments. Clear documents help screen-reader users and also make information easier for everyone to understand. Flexible working arrangements can assist employees with disabilities while also helping workers dealing with long commutes, family responsibilities or temporary health problems.
Accessible entrances, clear evacuation procedures and safer office layouts benefit the whole workforce.
The ILO has specifically reported that improvements made to accommodate persons with disabilities can result in better business practices that benefit other employees as well.
Better staff retention
Recruiting someone is only part of the job. Keeping good employees matters too.
When workers know that their employer will listen to their needs and make reasonable adjustments, they have a better chance of remaining productive and staying with the organisation.
The ILO’s Global Business and Disability Network identifies reduced turnover and improved productivity among the potential benefits for businesses that take disability inclusion seriously.
Better financial performance can follow
There is also evidence connecting disability inclusion with financial performance.
A 2023 Accenture study, conducted with Disability:IN and the American Association of People with Disabilities, examined 346 companies that participated in the Disability Equality Index. The companies that performed better on disability inclusion criteria recorded, over the period studied, 1.6 times more revenue, 2.6 times more net income and twice the economic profit of other companies in the index. The report also found that inclusion leaders were more likely to outperform industry peers in productivity by 25 percent.
Those figures should be read carefully. They do not mean that hiring one employee with a disability automatically increases a company’s revenue by a particular percentage. They show an association between stronger disability inclusion practices and better business performance among the companies studied.
That distinction matters.
Hiring is only the beginning
An organisation cannot advertise itself as inclusive and then leave an employee to deal with inaccessible systems alone.
Real workplace inclusion begins during recruitment.
Can a blind applicant access the online application form?
Can a person who uses a screen reader read the job description?
Can a deaf applicant participate fully in the interview?
Can a wheelchair user enter the building and reach the interview room?
Are recruitment tests accessible?
Does the employer judge candidates according to the actual requirements of the job rather than assumptions about disability?
These questions should be answered before the vacancy is advertised, not after someone complains.
The workplace itself must also be accessible.
That includes physical access, digital accessibility, communication, transportation considerations where relevant, emergency procedures and reasonable accommodation.
For a blind employee, reasonable accommodation might include an accessible computer, screen-reader compatibility, accessible documents or other assistive technology.
For a deaf employee, it could include captioning, sign language interpretation or accessible communication systems.
For a wheelchair user, it could include an accessible entrance, suitable workspace or adjustments to the physical environment.
The correct accommodation depends on the person and the job. Employers should ask the employee what works instead of making assumptions.
Accessibility should include technology
This is becoming increasingly important.
Many organisations now recruit through websites and online platforms. Employees also depend on software, internal portals, electronic documents, video conferencing platforms and other digital systems to perform their jobs.
If those systems are inaccessible, an employee with a disability can be excluded even while sitting inside an accessible office.
Digital accessibility should therefore be part of workplace inclusion.
Employers should test their websites, recruitment portals and workplace software with accessibility tools and, where possible, with people with different disabilities. The goal is to identify barriers before they prevent someone from applying for a job or doing one.
This is one area where assistive technology can make a major difference. Screen readers, refreshable Braille displays, magnification software, captioning systems and other technologies can allow persons with disabilities to work independently and effectively.
The technology exists. The question is whether employers are prepared to use it.
What employers should change
A company that wants to employ more persons with disabilities does not have to begin with a complicated programme.
It can start by examining its existing recruitment and employment practices.
Review job advertisements and application forms for accessibility. Make interview arrangements accessible. Train recruitment staff to assess candidates on qualifications rather than stereotypes. Ask employees what reasonable accommodation they need. Make workplace documents and digital systems accessible. Check whether buildings, meeting rooms and emergency procedures can be used by employees with different disabilities.
Then measure what is happening.
How many persons with disabilities applied for jobs?
How many were interviewed?
How many were hired?
What positions do they occupy?
Are they receiving equal pay?
Are they being promoted?
Are they leaving because of barriers that the employer could have removed?
These are much more useful questions than simply putting a disability inclusion statement on a company website.
Persons with disabilities should be part of the decision-making
There is another point employers should not miss.
Do not design disability policies without speaking to persons with disabilities.
The people affected by a policy should have an opportunity to explain what works and what does not. This includes employees with disabilities, organisations of persons with disabilities and disability rights advocates.
The ILO’s work on disability inclusion also stresses the importance of involving persons with disabilities in workplace decision-making and making physical and digital workplaces accessible.
This is practical, not ceremonial.
An organisation can spend a large amount of money on an accessibility project and still get the result wrong if nobody with a disability was involved in planning or testing it.
The question every employer should ask
If you are an employer, look at your last recruitment exercise.
How many qualified persons with disabilities applied?
If none did, why?
Was the job advertised through channels accessible to persons with disabilities? Was the application process accessible? Did the wording of the vacancy discourage applicants? Is your organisation known as a place where persons with disabilities can actually build a career?
These questions can be uncomfortable. They are also necessary.
Nigeria does not need employers who hire persons with disabilities simply to meet a quota or produce a photograph for an annual report.
We need workplaces where a person with a disability can apply for a job, get hired because they are qualified, receive the accommodation they need, earn equal pay for work of equal value, develop professionally and compete for promotion on the same basis as everyone else.
That is what workplace inclusion should mean.
Hiring persons with disabilities benefits the individual because it opens the door to decent work and economic independence. It benefits employers by widening access to talent and improving the way organisations understand their workers and customers. It benefits other employees when accessibility and flexible workplace practices make work easier and safer.
And it benefits society because people who have been pushed out of the labour market are given the opportunity to contribute their skills, pay taxes, support their families and participate fully in economic life.
The door should be open.
The person should be judged by the work they can do.
That is where a fair workplace begins.
