Woman Happy Answering Calls from Her Home

NTI@Home finds more companies are hiring more Americans with disabilities and the results are being seen in the bottom line.

BOSTON, MA, UNITED STATES, October 6, 2019 /EINPresswire.com/ -- More companies are hiring more Americans with disabilities and the results are being seen in the bottom line. Companies leveraging individuals with disabilities are more productive than their peers who aren’t hiring them, according to an Accenture report. NTI@Home has been experiencing that effect for years.

In the Chicago Tribune, Carlos Cubia, Walgreens Chief Diversity Officer said, “It started out as something that was socially responsible and turned into a high-productivity initiative. They stay longer, don’t miss work, and retention is higher than folks without disabilities. It’s really helped the bottom line in a number of ways.”

The same sediment Cubia expressed mirrors the experiences that NTI@Home’s clients have. A VP Work-at-Home Operations at SYKESHome stated, "Work-at-home employees are more engaged and consistently deliver high-quality service." As a result, they have been a client of NTI’s since 2004.

For the last 25 years, the nonprofit NTI@Home has been spreading the word about hiring Americans with disabilities. NTI@Home places individuals with disabilities in work-at-home jobs. They have assisted over 100,000 individuals with disabilities nationwide. In addition, NTI@Home also provides complete call center solutions including technical setup, staffing, phones, training, management and staffing.

“We have been talking about this for a long time,” said NTI’s COO Alan Hubbard. “Now, we are very happy that more companies are finding out the benefits of hiring Americans with disabilities. Our people are hard workers and very well trained. When you work with us, we are sending you great employees.”

More and more companies are pushing away the stigma of hiring Americans with disabilities and focusing on finding ways to add them to their companies. One preconception that companies found untrue is that it takes a large amount of money to add an American with disabilities to your workforce due to accommodations and equipment.

A study by the U.S. Job Accommodation Network revealed that 59 percent of Americans with disabilities didn’t require any extra accommodations and if they did, the average costs was a one-time expenditure of $500. Any changes companies make generally make benefits their entire workforce.

However, NTI@Home has found that with remote employees with disabilities, they already have the equipment they need to do their lives. Therefore, basic accommodations as opposed to adaptive equipment is necessary.

In a tight job market, employers are finding themselves in competitive situations to attract employees, but that market opens greatly when you practice inclusion. The Accenture says there are 15.1 million people of working age who are disabled in the United States.

“We are constantly actively recruiting to increase of our candidate pool,” said Hubbard. “With our people, there is almost no turnover when they get hired. They are well-trained to know what to expect from the job and do it well. Our eMentor training does the work for the company in training, so that gets an employee who is ready to contribute. That saves the company a great deal of money.”

The question for employers is being well-prepared when they begin the onboarding process.

"We feel strongly that creating an inclusive culture where people with different abilities are present, welcome and accommodated is the best approach," said Julia Trujillo, Senior Vice President of Global Talent and Workforce Development at MetLife. "We have taken steps to raise awareness and develop skills with our employees, as well as to ensure our processes and systems are inclusive of all abilities. We are intentional about continuously evolving this approach as we learn and grow."

The Accenture study showed what NTI@Home has seen for years. Americans with disabilities use fewer sick days, have less turnover, show greater loyalty to the company and are more aware and conscientious of safety.

“The companies we work with tell us that all the time,” said Hubbard. “Our people are happy to be back in the workforce and are very dedicated to the companies they work for.”

Hiring Americans with disabilities also helps the economy. The Accenture report says just hiring one percent of Americans with disabilities into the workforce would result in a $25 billion increase in the Gross Domestic Product.

“The conversation is absolutely evolving from philanthropic and charitable to one that is foundational to the business,'' said Laurie Henneborn, Research Managing Director for Accenture, in a USA Today article.

NTI@Home’s goal is to actively fill more than 600 open work from home jobs using individuals with disabilities across the United States this year.

“We have work-at-home jobs for Americans with disabilities,” Alan Hubbard, Chief Operating Officer of NTI stated.

“Staying true to our mission, we now need a multitude of qualified people to fill the roles.” NTI@Home offers free work training and providing a job coach to mentor registrants helps guide people successfully back into the workplace.

If you are on SSI or SSDI and looking for a work-at-home job within the call center, customer service, and IT help desk industries, contact NTI today at http://disability.one/GoodBusinessHire.

Also, if you are an organization interested in hiring individuals with disabilities within their call center or IT help desk, visit https://hireagents.nticentral.org/.

Michael Sanders
NTI
+1 8577727614
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