Today in Škofja Loka I took part in a round table on the employment and inclusion of people with disabilities. The event was organized by Rotary Club Škofja Loka and Jela Janežič Primary School. I briefly presented my own path to employment as an example of good practice.
In Slovenia, the employment of people with disabilities remains a serious issue. Very few people with disabilities are employed, and finding a first job is difficult.
All the participants agreed that too few people with special needs are being employed. Although the legislative solutions are relatively good, there is still too little understanding in practice. In my view, the biggest problem is “bureaucratization”: even the stakeholders who are supposed to provide support in the employment process for people with disabilities often do not have sufficient contact with the practical realities of individual people with disabilities and the labour market.
At the event I explained that employers can become reluctant to employ people with disabilities when bureaucratic requirements and the many available forms of support make the process seem unnecessarily complicated. A situation involving a person with a disability can sometimes be resolved quite simply, although suitable support and the correct legal options are still important. The best solutions often begin with an open, direct conversation between an employer and a prospective employee with a disability.
Another problem I still notice is that people with disabilities are often employed because of their status or quotas, or simply so that they can somehow feel included. This is the wrong way of thinking, and perhaps it is one reason why people with disabilities themselves are not motivated to take up regular and therefore productive employment. People with disabilities should primarily be employed so that they can support themselves and contribute to society, like all other active citizens. Employment can also be a way for someone to express themselves—not only as a person with a disability, but as a human being. So this is no longer merely about inclusion, but also about a general understanding of an open society.
This is of course a much broader story, but that is the short version, since the event itself was brief. Below is a short RTV Slovenija contribution about the event. The embedded video is available only in Slovenian: