23/10/2025
The UK's biggest employment gap that you hear almost nothing about. 👀
Right now across the UK, millions of people are blocked from accessing work. Not due to a lack of talent, skill or ambition, but inaccessibility.
The barriers around work mean that just 53% of disabled people are in employment, compared to 82% of non-disabled people. That's a staggering 29% employment gap - the largest of its kind.
And the gap is even wider for certain groups within the disabled community and compounded for those who also have other protected characteristics.
Some people are not well enough to work - they need proper support, not constant conditionality and uncertainty. But there are too many people who desperately want to work, and could in more accessible contexts, but who are excluded because of conventional work practices, norms and environments.
So what’s been driving the gap? 🕳️
- Recruitment practices and workplaces that overlook adjustments.
- Inaccessible job adverts and application processes.
- Roles lacking flexibility (remote, hybrid, part-time).
- Systemic barriers to progression and pay.
- Ingrained assumptions about the lives disabled people can lead and the things we can achieve.
We have to start bridging this gap with accessible recruitment, training your staff across seniority levels, and workplace inclusion practices that break down these needless barriers.
Taking action is vital for disabled people, ultimately benefits all employees and makes clear business sense: higher productivity, higher retention rates, higher innovation and access to a wealth of talent that is currently marginalised.
Want help reshaping your workplace towards the accessible future of work? We’d love to chat!
Email us at [email protected] ✉️
