Diversity Keeps the Company Moving in the Right Direction

Regarding employment process, via a written communication, a job applicant would be asked if he/she has disability, veteran, or ethnically diverse etc when applying for a position online.

It really depends on the applicants whether they want to disclose their disabilities or not. In the US, job description is very clear and specific, including required specific education background or/and working experience at a specific field.

The applicants with/without disabilities have to match those requirements to apply for the job, or the company would not consider them for the role, they are not necessarily interviewed  interview them.

The important point is that if a job applicant has met required experience and skill to do the job, it doesn’t matter if he/she has disabilities or not they will be considered for the role.

Mara said.

Although job applicants are asked about their disabilities when they fill out job application online form, the interviewer would not be informed who has disability or who doesn’t.

During interviews, if the job applicants have visible disabilities, such as mobility impairment and have to move via wheelchairs, the interviewer would not ask about the job applicants’ disabilities at the interviews.

We are not the ones to make the decision on whether or not they have disability.

We are the ones who ensure that whoever we interview somebody with/without disability that they are able to do the work required by the job description.

We would never want to ask some people about disability and not to ask others about it, because that wouldn’t be right or fair.

Mara explained.

Once the job applicant is hired, via a written communication, again he/she would be asked about his/her disability and other background.

This time also, he/she can choose whether to disclose the disability or not.

Reasonable accommodation will be provided when disability is disclosed and reasonable accommodation is requested .

I thought it is really different situation compared to Japan and very interesting.

When we, Japanese people with disabilities, apply for a job, usually we need to submit a copy of ID for person with disabilities (=disclose disability).

During interviews, we would be asked not only what we can do for the job or company but also what kind of reasonable accommodations we need etc.

However at this stage, we do not know if we get the job or not.

Therefore it is hard to be 100% honest about what we need.

It is just because we are afraid that the company wouldn’t hire us if we request too much even if it is necessary.

Even after an employment decision is made, some companies would refuse to provide reasonable accommodations due to lack of budget and do not take reasonable accommodations seriously.

The other thing is, since companies in Japan use quota system to hire disabled people, and categorize job applicants based on whether they have disabilities or not when job applications are filled (Not all companies).

The job position for people with disabilities is limited and its clarification is often ambiguous and too general in many cases.

I think this is already discrimination if I see from the perspective of employment system in US.

However, it is also true that if the company in Japan set  specific requirements for a job position, no one would apply for it and the company will never meet the required number of hiring disable people and may end up paying fines.

Because of above situation, there are still a lot of issues we have to solve regarding employment for people with disabilities.

I believe this situation is not good for both employee and employer.

But adopting US employment style completely in Japan is not a perfect solution, I believe.

We have to think something suitable for Japanese market.

I cannot answer what it is right now, but will continue visiting companies visits in the US and finding answers.

In the end, I would like to share Mara’s message with you: