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JAN promotes the message to employers that hiring people with disabilities expands the pool of qualified employees and that learning how to accommodate disability reduces workers’ compensation and other insurance costs. JAN stresses that accommodations do not cost what employers generally expect—88% of accommodations suggested by the JAN cost less than $1,000.

They offer educational conferences around the country and a wide range of web-based interactive seminar programs and manage an exceptionally information-rich web site at www.jan.wvu.edu, where you can learn about any and all types of disability and read profiles of sample job accommodations for each.

Technology is creating new opportunities for working with a disability. People can work in offices or at home with an Internet connection in this modern economy that is substantially based on the flow of information rather than on physical labor. Adaptive technology will continue to provide entry points to employment for people with disabilities.

An encouraging note was reported by economists Douglas Kruse and Alan Krueger. They found that people with SCIs with sufficient computer skills were able to earn the same level of income as an ablebodied worker. The disability was completely transparent where pay was concerned—unlike the overall population of people with disabilities who earn less for the same work than the general population. The study reports:

There is a tremendous need for people with computer and technology skills. Jobs in programming, data analysis, or database administration are waiting for qualified candidates. The situation is severe enough that, in 1998, one of the top news stories in California’s Silicon Valley was about the desire of the computer industry to allow more immigration of people with these skills because of the industry’s claim that there are not enough qualified candidates in the United States. How much could the currently untapped resource of people with disabilities fill the void?

A positive result of the labor shortage is that barriers of discrimination are beginning to fall. Businesses of all sizes are looking at people with disabilities to fill their needs. This burgeoning demand creates an enormous opportunity for people with disabilities who have the skills and experience employers seek.
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The study by Kruse and Krueger
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found that people with quadriplegia, college graduates, and younger people were more likely to use a computer, and this correlated with higher levels of employment. Companies did not have to invest in training people or risk hiring someone without proven skills. Other findings include:

Only 17% of workers with SCIs returned to their previous job following injury.

Another 10% said they could have returned to their previous work if they had been provided training and adaptive devices.

Pay per hour was only slightly lower for people reemployed after injury, but hours—and weekly pay—fell by 25%.

Fifty-one percent of people in white collar jobs returned to work.

Thirty-two percent of people in blue collar jobs returned to work.

Larger corporations tend to be more willing to invest in hiring people with disabilities and in the equipment they need. They have the resources to commit to searching for people, sending staff to conferences such as those put on by The Office on Disability Employment Policy or Cornell University’s Employment and Disability Institute, and supporting accommodation needs of an employee. Ultimately, these efforts are worth the investment.

Technology has made it easier to operate a business from home. A computer, a telephone, and a fax machine put you in contact with the world—including clients.

The United States Small Business Administration (SBA) helps some people seeking financing for a small business startup. They don’t make direct loans, but, if your bank turns you down, you might qualify for an SBA loan guarantee under the Handicapped Assistance Loan program. If your application is accepted, SBA essentially promises to pay the bank if you default on the loan, removing the bank’s risk. The SBA puts certain limits on the interest the bank may charge and also restricts the type of business they will approve. Gambling and real estate investment, for instance, are excluded from its list of approved businesses.

The SBA also provides information to help you start your business. Local offices provide advisers through the Service Corps of Retired Executives program, in which retired business executives review your plans and consult with you to help ensure success.

The modern workplace has witnessed a notable shift toward contract and part-time workers. Corporations want to reduce full-time staff in order to save fixed overhead expenses of wages and benefits. More work projects are of shorter duration, with rapidly changing marketplaces and technologies. It can be difficult to predict what skills a company will need at any one time. Part-time and contract workers give companies flexibility.

Manpower Incorporated is an example of a temporary employment agency that has grown to be one of the largest corporations in the world. It maintains a list of people with specific skills and refers them to companies that call looking for those skills. Wages are paid by Manpower, which is paid a fee by the employer. Temporary job referrals can result in full-time jobs, since some companies see the service as a way of getting to know a potential employee without having to make a commitment to hire them full time from the start.

Many people question the impact of part-time and contract work on employees and communities. Workers can wonder where the next job will come from, not earn as much as they need, or lose security by not having health or retirement benefits. However, many people like being a contract worker. They get to work on a variety of projects, meet more people, and gain a variety of skills. They also get to experience the employer before making a full-time commitment, if that is an option. If they can perform some work at home, they might be able to gain a tax benefit from deducting the costs of a home office. The flexibility of contract work can be a good employment solution for a person with a disability.

Some companies are experimenting with flex time, in which jobs are shared and—to the degree possible—people set their own hours. This— along with part-time contract opportunities—opens up possibilities for people who have trouble committing to a full-time job because they are unable to predict physical problems, such as severe infections, pressure sores, or exacerbations of multiple sclerosis, for instance, or for people who require extra time in the morning to get clean, dressed, and mobile—possibly with the support of a personal assistant.

Title I of the ADA requires equal opportunity for people with disabilities, affecting all employers in the private sector with 15 or more employees, as of July 26, 1994. The ADA protects you from being discriminated against for employment solely based on your disability. It does not guarantee you a job. You still have to qualify based on your abilities.

Federal agencies and any business receiving federal contracts of $10,000 or more were already banned from discriminating based on disability by Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Sections 501 and 503 called on the government and its contractors to take affirmative action to hire people with disabilities. The Vietnam Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974 similarly requires government contractors to take affirmative action on behalf of covered veterans.