File photo. The study compared the experiences of people with disabilities and employers within their industries. Photo: 123RF
There is a renewed industry focus to overcome persistent concerns about the employment of disabled people within the construction, infrastructure, manufacturing, engineering and logistics sectors.
The report written by disabled researchers and commissioned by Hanga-Aro-Rau and Waihanga Ara Rau - the Workforce Development Councils for the manufacturing, engineering and logistics (MEL), and construction and infrastructure sectors - was designed to reduce barriers faced by disabled workers entering these industries and address a critical and growing skills shortage.
Hanga-Aro-Rau deputy chief executive Samantha McNaughton said it was the first study to compare the experiences of people with disabilities and employers within their industries.
She said the next step will be to draw up an action plan by the end of the year and meet with industry employers to increase awareness and find solutions to barriers from the start of 2025.
"This research will be the very tip of the iceberg as we explore how the employment of disabled people could be improved, particularly within the construction, infrastructure, manufacturing, engineering and logistics sectors where the skills shortage is growing by the day," McNaughton said.
The research indicates there was a potential pool of 268,900 disabled workers that could help fill the anticipated skills required to address multibillion-dollar infrastructure investment planned in the coming years, with a combined skills gap for these industries expected to widen by 51 percent or 432,000 workers by 2028.
Stats NZ data indicates 56 percent of working-age disabled people were not participating in the labour force, while the report estimates a quarter of the current workforce had disabilities or impairments.
"For most of these people, the disability is not visible which can make it very hard for an employer to understand how to best support it," she said.
"This has the potential to lead to tension or friction within the workplace - purely because people don't understand how they need to communicate with each other."
The research found two-thirds (63 percent) of employers had never, or were unsure if they ever had a conversation about disability or considered employing more disabled people.
Less than a quarter (23 percent) of managers said they followed disability-inclusive recruitment practices.
The study also finds disabled people along with Māori, Pacific workers and women were underrepresented in these sectors and were among the target populations identified as essential to filling industry workforce shortages.
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