On the back of a growing awareness in employing Persons with Disabilities (PwD), the IT industry is expected to double their number in FY16. In FY15, the sector employed 2.48 lakh people, of whom about 1 per cent were disabled.
Under the United Nations International Observances Day, December 3 is recognised as the International Day of Persons with Disabilities. India ratified the United Nations Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) in 2007.
“Next year, the hiring of disabled persons is expected to double as the IT industry is especially sensitive to recognising and addressing the basic issues faced by such people. A lot of IT Business Process Management (BPM) companies have been hiring persons with disabilities for a long time now, with some companies such as SAP having separate hiring programmes for a specific category, autism,” Shrikant Sinha, Chief Executive Officer at Nasscom Foundation said.
On an average, the IT sector, one of the largest recruiters after government organisations, hires over 2 lakh persons every year. The total IT employee base in the country stands at 35 lakh.
Certain business process management (BPM) companies have about 1 per cent disabled persons on their rolls, while others are looking at disability inclusion for the first time, he said, adding that certain Nasscom member firms such as Capgemini, Ageis, MPhasis and IBM also train people with disabilities.
Ageis Ltd, the BPM arm of Essar Group, employs 562 differently-abled persons globally, of whom 476 are in India. Such employees constitute about 1.38 per cent of Ageis’ global workforce of about 40,000 people.
“They are employed in various roles and functions and at all levels, including senior management, call centre agents and supervisors,” SM Gupta, Global Chief People Officer at Ageis said. The company employs 23 different types of disability, including celebral palsy, locomotor disability, hearing impairment and autism.
Concerns“There is definitely some concern in getting the right talent. However, there are several people who are in leadership roles in organisations such as Thomson Reuters, Scope International and IBM,” Sinha added.
Certain companies are also looking at diverting a part of their corporate social responsibility funds towards skilling persons with disabilities.