New online resource for jobseekers with disabilities

With the economic downturn in full flow, disabled people are struggling more than ever to compete in a floundering job market.

More than half of all disabled people of working age do not have a job. Leonard Cheshire Disability is launching a new online resource today (16 February) www.lcdisability.org/suitability to tackle this issue head-on. Suitability, a partnership between Leonard Cheshire Disability, the Employers’ Forum on Disability and Jobsgopublic, is an online job brokerage initiative for registered jobseekers, employers and mentors.

It is backed by a team of advisers who identify the skills, talent and experience of disabled jobseekers and match them with employers. Disabled jobseekers can contact personal advisors, connect with people with similar needs and goals, receive job alerts by SMS and access the Suitability CV Builder. Employers can post vacancies online for free, recruit and hire staff, reach other companies through the Suitability Forum and sign up to virtual careers fairs.

Suitability builds on the success of Leonard Cheshire Disability’s Workability initiative, that supports 8,000 disabled people to gain essential IT skills and a free reconditioned computer. Disabled people are already far less likely to be in work than non disabled people. With the job market in free fall, they will face even more barriers to finding work. Many disabled people do want to find a job, but often face the serious challenge of changing people’s perceptions of who they are and what they can do.