News & Features

Thousands of Disabled People Missing from Technology Workforce

Posted in General News on Thursday, February 1st, 2024

There are 88,000 people disabled people missing' from the technology workforce, according to the British Computer Society (BCS). Disabled people account for 16% of the UK workforce and account for 11% of the technology specialists, according to analysis by BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, in its BCS Diversity Report 2023. That means for representation in IT to be level with workplace norms, there should be an additional 88,000 IT specialists with disabilities employed in the UK. Matthew Bellringer, Chair of the BCS' Neurodiversity Specialist Group, said: "It's clear that the IT profession itself can and should be an excellent place for disabled and neurodivergent people to work, and digital tools can be a great enabler. We have a severe skills gap in tech, which is a massive societal cost. Helping disabled people to utilise their expertise by providing the support they need is essential to boosting the talent pipeline in tech and other sectors. Some progress has been made. However, it's disappointing — though not terribly surprising — that many barriers still exist." 

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