Employers are just beginning to feel the pinch of a reduction in the US workforce. It is projected (US Census and BLS) that the US population has experienced only a 1.1 percent annual growth for the most of the last decade. After 2010 the slow down will increase; it is estimated that growth will slow to only .3 percent by 2030. It is predicated that the reduction in population growth coupled with baby boomers exiting the workforce, or decreasing their work hours, will result in a shortage of skilled, trained, and educated employees. Most employers have been aware of this for many years. Some employers began to prepare for this change in available labor. Other employers, such as the US Federal government, did not think ahead or prepare for this change. As a matter of fact the federal government has virtually ignored this fact.

One very large, nearly untapped pool of qualified employees continues to be workers with disabilities. The federal government has not only made no effort to engage workers with disabilities, they have actually dramatically reduced the number of people they employ that have disabilities. According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the federal workforce grew by 6 percent between 1996 and 2006 but the number of federal employees with disabilities decreased by 15%. The Federal government is not the model private employers should mirror.

As a result of the decrease, in 2006 the federal government began an initiative to turn around their hiring practices. I am not going to hold my breath that they will actually make significant progress in hiring individuals with disabilities to right their wrong.

While the federal government does not get it, there are employers that are smart enough to target their recruitment towards individuals with disabilities. Maybe the federal government should look at employers such as Walgreens. Knowing the number of available workers is decreasing, and the fact that only 37.7 percent of working age people with disabilities are employed (79.7 percent of working age people with out disabilities are employed), Walgreens decided to be proactive and go after the large labor pool of potential employees in the disability community. Walgreens had the foresight to actively plan for and target job candidates with disabilities as a means to find great employees. Walgreens designed and recently completed building their second distribution facility that was built specifically with the intent of employing people with disabilities. In addition to their facilities, they have developed strong plans to assure meaningful jobs with equal opportunities for advancement and job mobility for employees with disabilities. They plan on continuing these initiatives throughout their company. By the way, in their new facility 160 of the 400 employees are individuals with disabilities and productivity has increased 20%.

Walgreens is not the only company that is a good model for other employers to look at when considering how to find great employees. Unfortunately, too many employers are more like the federal government in terms of their ability and desire to hire individuals with disabilities. The smart employers have the foresight to tap into this underutilized workforce. The smart employers will be far ahead of the game when the real crunch for employees emerges over the next 15 years.

So why do employers avoid recruiting from this highly competent pool of potential employees? Maybe in my next blog I will suggest some possible answers and we can discuss how to make some changes in the employment arena.