Speakers
Synopsis
Adults have a strong desire for career development and growth yet consistently face challenges in gaining and retaining employment. In Australia, only 41% of autistic adults are employed, which is a notably lower rate than 83% of the general population (figures as of 2019). This is particularly concerning when we consider that autistic adults have a greater number of post-school qualifications (86%) compared to the general population (57%).
The aim of this presentation is to address to two main points:
- Why recruitment and employment of autistic people is advantageous in the Cyber space:
- Employment of autistic adults can provide significant benefits in the workplace including:
\> Improved workplace culture and inclusion
\> Increase in creativity and innovation due to the diverging strengths and skills of autistic employees
\> Tangible gains in productivity and quality of work
\> Autistic employees are often linked to the ability to show high concentration, attention to detail, and patience when executing tasks which can be highly valuable to employers (particularly in roles which require high accuracy and attention to detail including programming, process mapping, and data analysis)
\> Autistic people can demonstrate an intensity of focus on preferred interests, which can lead to depth of knowledge and strong work ethic that could be advantageous in the workplace
- How to better support your autistic employees:
- Autistic people are commonly drawn to technology and cyber, meaning most leaders and colleagues will likely already work with autistic people
- Disclosure of autism is a high stakes decision, with 2/3 of autistic people experiencing negative outcomes after disclosing their autism in the workplace (eg. bullying, discrimination and stigma)
- The acceptance of autism in the workplace can lead to positive impacts such as increased productivity and high employee retention
- An introduction to ways of working that can be advantageous and beneficial to autistic employees and their coworkers
