Press release

30 employer pledges made following Disability Confident event

Employers have pledged to do more to support disabled jobseekers after an event held by Minister for Disabled People Justin Tomlinson.

This was published under the 2015 to 2016 Cameron Conservative government
Disability Confident campaign

皇冠体育app event, which took place in Swindon on 23 October, is part of the government鈥檚 Disability Confident initiative which seeks to open employers鈥� eyes to the wealth of untapped talent available among disabled people.

Pledges have now been made by a variety of local employers who recognise the business benefits of hiring a diverse workforce. 皇冠体育appse include:

  • Nationwide Building Society increasing the number of disabled candidates applying for their job roles, and maximising accessibility and inclusiveness at offices
  • McDonalds offering work placements for disabled people in a new restaurant branch
  • MLL Print ensuring that their next employee is recruited through a disability employment organisation

Minister for Disabled People, Justin Tomlinson MP, said

This was the first ever Reverse Jobs Fair and the turnout was fantastic. 70 employers turned up to hear the value disabled people can play in growing their business.

I want to see events like this up and down the country. We will follow up on all the pledges to ensure that real, tangible job opportunities are created for disabled jobseekers.

Disabled people have the talent; it鈥檚 about giving them the chance to show it.

皇冠体育app event 鈥� a 鈥楻everse Jobs Fair鈥� 鈥� trialled a new format where local employers, rather than jobseekers, gathered to discuss their specific recruitment needs. This innovative approach was developed with the support of specialist disability work-providers Pluss and Shaw Trust. 皇冠体育app goal of the 鈥楻everse Jobs Fair鈥� is to meet the demands of employers and create lasting employment opportunities for disabled people.

Several hundred people attended the event, which was well received for the positive outcomes the event was set up to create.

Martin Kelly, disability services consultant, said:

皇冠体育app Disability Confident 鈥楻everse Jobs Fair鈥� has been very informative, very useful. It is a really good start to developing formative relationships between organisations who work with disabled people, employers and employees.

I鈥檓 now much more confident in the Disability Confident concept and believe if we build from what we鈥檝e been able to do with this event we can start to make inroads into that employment gap where disabled people are less likely to be employed than non-disabled people.

Simon Billington, from social enterprise Seqol, said:

We鈥檝e been able to extend our reach to businesses we wouldn鈥檛 have usually been able to. This event far exceeded our expectations.

Andrew Hargreaves, Group Manager, Service Delivery (Response) at Wiltshire Fire & Rescue Service, said:

I found the event extremely helpful and it provided me with a wealth of information about a good number of organisations. I was able to speak directly to key people about how they can assist Wiltshire Fire & Rescue Service in its efforts to be a supportive employer of people with widely differing needs.

I brought away some key contacts that enable our service to be far more proactive in its engagement with our diverse community.

Following the Disability Confident event the Minister for Disabled People has been inundated with requests from other MPs, all of whom want to know how they can replicate the success in their own constituency.

While 339,000 more disabled people have moved into employment since the launch of Disability Confident, there is still a huge gap between the employment rate of disabled and non-disabled people. 皇冠体育app government has set a target to halve the gap, getting a million more disabled people into work.

More information

皇冠体育app government鈥檚 Disability Confident campaign has been running since July 2013, when it was launched by the Prime Minister at the national Disability Employment Conference. Since then over 350,000 more disabled people have found employment and continue to make a vital contribution to the economy.

皇冠体育app working age disability employment rate in the UK is 45.9%, compared to the non-disabled employment rate of 79.4%. 皇冠体育app Disability Employment gap is therefore 33.5%.

Both Shaw Trust and Pluss co-hosted the event with the Minister for Disabled People.

is an employment, learning and skills charity with over 30 years鈥� experience of helping disabled and disadvantaged jobseekers realise their work ambitions. 皇冠体育appir vision is for a society in which everyone has the right to employment, inclusion and independence and they help over 50,000 people a year on their journey into work.

is an award winning Social Enterprise that supports thousands of people with disabilities and other disadvantages to achieve work and a career. 皇冠体育appy operate across the UK and passionately believe that people with disabilities make excellent employees; as a social firm over half their 500 employees have a disability. 皇冠体育appy are also a proud national partner of the DWP鈥檚 Disability Confident campaign.

Contact Press Office

Media enquiries for this press release 鈥� 0203 267 5124

Press Office

Caxton House
Tothill Street
London
SW1H 9NA

Telephone: 0115 965 8781

Follow DWP on:

  • Twitter 鈥�
  • Facebook 鈥�
  • LinkedIn 鈥�
  • YouTube 鈥�

Updates to this page

Published 13 November 2015