Many executives are confronting the same pressure: finding skilled people and keeping them. Employers are investing heavily in recruiting, enhanced training, and automation to close the gap. Unfortunately, many employers are overlooking an abundant source of talent – people with disabilities. More than one in four American adults, about 70 million people, live with a disability.
The employment numbers reveal the size of that blind spot. In 2025, 22.8% of people with disabilities were employed. Their unemployment rate was 8.3%, roughly twice the rate for people without disabilities. That divide reflects more than labor-market conditions. It also reflects a perception gap, one widened whenever a hiring decision begins with an assumption instead of a résumé.
October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month, and this year’s theme celebrates value and talent. For those of us who lead organizations, that theme should prompt a direct business question: Are we seeing the value and talent already in front of us?
Starting with our own team
I cannot ask other employers to do what my own organization is unwilling to do, so I will start with us. Today, nearly one in five team members at Goodwill of North Georgia has a documented disability, and the actual share is likely higher. On our facility services and maintenance teams, about two-thirds of employees have a documented disability. Most work on contracts through AbilityOne, the federal program that connects people with significant disabilities to employment opportunities.
Too often, potential employers noticed her wheelchair before they recognized her experience.
All colleagues, including those with disabilities, are treated appropriately: as people with responsibilities and goals, and are provided with the tools they need to do their jobs well. Workplace accommodations are simply part of effective management, built into the job just as training and scheduling are. They are also far less costly than many employers assume. Sixty-one percent of workplace accommodations cost nothing, and the median one-time cost for those that do is about $300. Doing this well usually begins with managers who ask what a team member needs to succeed and then follow through.
A job, a better job, a career
Beyond our own workforce, our mission is organized around a straightforward approach to workforce development that we call ABC: A Job, a Better Job, a Career. A first job gets someone in the door and earning. A better job builds skills and pay. A career creates a future a person can plan around.
My colleague Catherine Carter Green shows what that progression can look like. Catherine shares her story to inspire others. Between 2021 and 2023, she experienced the end of her marriage, the loss of the job she had held for 20 years, the loss of her home, and the death of her nephew to gun violence. She then spent two and a half years looking for work. Catherine is 58, a parent and a wheelchair user. She also brought a strong work history, including service at the IRS, where she began opening and sorting tax returns and advanced into work involving refunds and accounts payable. Too often, potential employers noticed her wheelchair before they recognized her experience.
Last fall, Catherine came to one of our career centers. Our team supported her job search and helped her rebuild something years of rejection had eroded: confidence. In November 2025, she joined Goodwill of North Georgia as a customer solution specialist. That role was her A: a paycheck, a routine, and a place where her skills counted again.
The next step is where most employers, including mine, still have work to do. Over the past decade, our programs have helped more than 5,700 people with disabilities find work, most commonly as warehouse associates, custodians, and graders, but also as supervisors and managers. Nationally, workers with disabilities are nearly twice as likely as workers without disabilities to work part time. Moving more people into full-time, better- paying roles requires access to skills training in fields such as welding, forklift operation, and technology. It also requires managers who recognize potential and create clear opportunities for advancement.
Three commitments for employers
As National Disability Employment Awareness Month concludes, I am asking every employer, from the corner shop to the largest corporation, to make three commitments:
Interview for the job, not the disability: Judge candidates on what they have accomplished and what the role requires. Work history, skills, and resilience say far more about future performance than a first impression. Keep pre-offer conversations focused on qualifications and the work. At every stage, including the application and interview process, provide reasonable accommodations when requested, and discuss job-related accommodations respectfully and lawfully.
Build the ladder: Adopt your own version of A Job, a Better Job, a Career. Examine whether employees with disabilities have equitable access to pay, training, and promotion, and address barriers when the data reveal them. Every entry-level role should offer a visible path to the next opportunity.
Use the help that already exists: Vocational rehabilitation agencies, workforce boards, and community organizations work with job seekers with disabilities every day. They can connect employers with qualified candidates, provide training, and help managers navigate workplace accommodations. These partnerships can help employers reach talent their competitors may be overlooking.
A sound business decision
Hiring people with disabilities is not charity. It is a sound business decision. Among employers that made workplace accommodations, 85% reported improved employee retention, and more than half reported increased productivity. Inclusive hiring brings resilient, adaptable problem-solvers into organizations at a time when leaders across industries say they cannot find enough skilled people.
The talent is already here and ready to contribute.
