More job options for people with disabilities

Growing number of employers adapting roles to different needs, creating new posts

- Shermaine Ang

Job opportunities for people with disabilities (PWDs) have grown in the past three years, with more employers adapting roles to different needs and creating new positions.

Beyond the food and beverage and hospitality industries, disability agency SG Enable is seeing more PWDs being hired in growth sectors such as logistics, healthcare, information technology, banking and the public sector.

Mr Tan Eng Tat, SG Enable’s director of employment and employability, said that for every 100 job seekers with disabilities, there were about 240 job vacancies with inclusive employers in the financial year that ended in March 2023. This is similar to the 250 vacancies in 2022 and up from 150 vacancies in 2021.

In the mainstream labour market, there were about 194 vacancies per 100 unemployed people in June 2023, compared with 257 vacancies in the same month in 2022, and 160 in June 2021.

The Straits Times spoke to three PWDs about the challenges they face at work and how they adapt.

Mr Joshua Tseng, who is blind, has been an accessibility consultant with non-profit organisation Etch Empathy since April 2022.

After graduating with an information systems degree from Singapore Management University, the 26-year-old joined the organisation and started a team to look into the accessibility of software like apps and websites.

Among the organisations he has worked with are the National Library Board, FairPrice, GovTech and SBS Transit.

Mr Tseng said companies benefit from making their services accessible, as people with disabilities form the largest global minority group, at about 16 per cent of the world’s population.