December 3, 2018

Is providing disabled people with employment opportunities sufficient?

International Day of People with Disabilities is organised on December 3 every year. It aims to raise public awareness, understanding and acceptance of people with disabilities and celebrate the achievements and contributions of people with disabilities. In Singapore, SPD has been committed to working with people with disabilities to develop their potential to the fullest and to become self-reliant and independent. It aims to build a society where everyone is a part of it, and not apart from it.

A/P S. Vasoo (Department of Social Work) in his paper, ‘Employment Opportunities for the Disabled in Singapore: Some Issues and Challenges’ (Asia and Pacific Journal on Disability, 1997), asserts that strong economic development in Singapore has increased employment opportunities for people with disabilities. Moreover, with Singapore’s two percent unemployment rate in comparison to 10 percent in many developed countries, the competition for jobs between the disabled and the able-bodied is less stiff. Employers are more prepared to consider trained people with disabilities for positions as they are unlikely to job-hop. He further argues that despite improved job prospects for people with disabilities, there are a number of factors affecting their employability, including prejudiced views that they are a national liability. Other hurdles such as transportation difficulties, physical barriers, non-proactive management, and inadequate vocational skills and educational level continue to hamper the employability of people with disabilities.

Increasing public awareness of the potentials of people with disabilities, changing employer attitudes by acknowledging employers who have hired disabled staff, reducing physical barriers, customising transportation, proactive management, and cooperative workshops and enterprises are achievable solutions to their challenges. Vasoo emphasizes that people with disabilities must be trained to have marketable skills.

To learn more about what Vasoo says about the employment opportunities for the disabled in Singapore, click here.