Customised Employment Methodology for Disabled Job Seekers
RCTReview
Individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities face extreme labor market exclusion, experiencing employment rates of only 17.5% compared to 51% in the general population due to rigid traditional hiring processes that fail to accommodate specialized needs.
Picture this
Standard job vacancies are like off-the-rack suits designed for a generic body type, which rarely fit someone with unique physical or cognitive proportions. Customised employment operates like a bespoke tailor who assesses both the worker's precise strengths and an employer's unaddressed operational tasks to design a custom job position tailored specifically to both parties.
What the evidence says
The Customised Employment Methodology increased weekly working time by 2.3 hours (a 73% increase over the comparison group) and increased accumulated work contracts by 0.14 (a 45% increase), while enhancing participation in training, volunteering, social inclusion, and overall well-being.
- Who was studied
- 435 individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities across 13 Spanish regions (232 treatment, 203 comparison).
- How
- Randomised Controlled Trial (RCT) evaluating an 11-month intensive Customised Employment Methodology (CEM) featuring personalized discovery, direct employer negotiation, and workplace onboarding support.
What to do
Deploy specialized job developers to perform individual discovery assessments and negotiate customized, task-tailored job contracts directly with local business owners for job seekers with intellectual disabilities.
From the source
"The CEM led to increases of 2.3 hours worked per week (73 percent more than the comparison group), and 0.14 work contracts (45 percent) in the last year, although there was no higher employment rate at the endline."
promoting-labor-market-inclusion-policy-publication.pdf