Why Neurodiversity Is The Next Hottest Hiring Trend

As the world slowly returns to normal, the British Columbia economy is picking up speed. As always after a major economic crash, the demand for workers is outstripping the number of individuals with the necessary skills and experience. This creates a competition among hiring companies for these workers, but smarter hiring managers know that other talent pools exist that will give them a competitive edge. The biggest, and hottest, of these new hiring trends is neurodiversity, and even major corporations such as SAS, Microsoft and JP Morgan Chase are starting to hire neurodiverse talent to put themselves out front in the marketplace.

What Neurodiverse Employees Bring To Your Company

Neurodiverse workers bring a lot of skills and talents to the workplace that make them unique employees, but these benefits are often overlooked due to underlying biases and negative stereotypes that exist in modern society. The portrayal of autistic individuals in the media and in films shows them as low capacity, eccentric people and nothing could be further from the truth. Their talents get made fun of, as can be seen in throwaway comments by neurotypical individuals such as “I’m a little autistic when it comes to crosswords,” when they mean that they’re able to focus or have a specific interest.

Despite this negativity, there are many benefits that neurodiverse talent bring to your company:

  • Excellent data analysis – one of the hallmarks of many low support autistic workers is that they have excellent pattern recognition skills. This makes them quick experts at jobs that require attention to detail and data analysis such as accountancy or computer programming.
  • High levels of concentration – another trait common to many individuals on the autism spectrum is the ability to maintain high levels of concentration for long periods of time. This is especially true when they are working in a field or on a topic that matches their own personal interests and fascinations. Autistic workers with this skill often thrive in jobs requiring repetitive tasks such as computer software debugging as well as those that require assimilation data like science or medical research.
  • A new way of seeing things – finally, the ability to see the world in a very different way to their neurotypical colleagues sets autistic workers apart. This makes them able to see flaws in existing processes and symptoms, and will help your company to find more streamlined approaches to existing problems. The ability to bring a fresh pair of eyes makes autistic workers excel at IT consultancy as well as systems analysis across all fields.

The Benefits Of Neurodiversity In The Workplace

One of the reasons that more and more companies across British Columbia are hiring autistic workers is that it’s a win-win situation for everyone. Some of the key beneficiaries include:

  • The autistic worker – it’s estimated that over 80% of autistic adults in British Columbia are either unemployed or in jobs that don’t match their skills and expertise. By giving them full time, meaningful employment, you build their confidence and allow them to take their full place in today’s society.
  • Their colleagues – while the company benefits from higher levels of productivity and creativity, the colleagues of autsistic workers also benefit in many ways. Firstly, they gain a better awareness of autism in general which helps to break the negative stereotypes. Secondly, they develop deeper empathy towards each other as they have to make changes to their own practices to accommodate and include their new colleague. Finally, they develop better communication patterns and have to increase their use of concrete linguistic tools. This reduces the amount of ambiguity and miscommunication which in turn helps to build morale and productivity.
  • Society at large – as more and more autistic citizens of British Columbia find work, the whole province benefits. Each unemployed autistic individual takes up a certain amount of money in welfare and support benefits, which get removed when they start full time work. They also become part of the tax base which reduces the overall tax burden for everyone. Finally they add their spending power to the local economy which in turn creates more job opportunities for everyone.

It’s clear to see that there are a whole range of reasons why your company should  hire neurodiverse talent. It can feel intimidating making that first step towards a more inclusive workplace, which is when partnering with Orbital is going to be a key to your success. Orbital taps into a pool of pre-approved autistic candidates to find your next new successful hire.