Diversity is taking on a new meaning at workplaces, extending beyond the usual ‘gender diversity’.
More big names, including in the IT-ITes space, are committing to opening their doors to Persons with Disabilities (PwDs), some of them claiming to hire them for non-stereotypical roles as well. Less than 1% of the total 39 lakh-strong workforce in the IT-ITes sector in India comprise of PwDs.
Cisco, for example, recently started a training programme for a batch of 20 PwDs in collaboration with EnAble India under its new ‘Project LifeChanger’, an idea that was mooted by its employees in an innovation challenge.
“We train batches of 20 persons with EnAble India for six months. A majority of those who trained in the first batch were engineers. They got placed in coding, global delivery services, procurement, human resource, and IT support,” Christian Barrios, Director, Human Resource, Cisco Systems (India) Pvt. Ltd, said on the sidelines of the fifth Annual Disability Matters Asia Pacific Conference here on Friday. The company is looking to scale-up with eventual batches, and is open to training graduates.
J.P. Morgan started focus on employment of PwDs around two-and-a-half-years ago, starting by making the workplace more accessible infrastructure-wise and by sensitising employees. “There is no dearth of talent among PwDs. What we need to do is build further on their confidence. A certain amount of hand-holding is extended to new employees briefly,” said Gaurav Ahluwalia, Managing Director, Head of Human Resources, J.P. Morgan.
At Accenture, apart from a ‘Skills to Succeed’ programme that has imparted skill training to nearly 20,000 PwDs since 2010 (among other categories), an ‘accessibility council’, easily available assistive technology, and an ‘Ability unleashed’ programme that helps PwDs who are managers and assistant managers climb up the hierarchy in an eight-month intensive leadership development programme are ensuring that “inclusivity” really means something, said a spokesperson.
Autism too
A significant trend has also been of companies opening up to disabilities such as Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Last year, J.P. Morgan started hiring persons with ASD in roles for application and software development, quality analysis, and business analysis, playing to their strengths.
Cisco too has started focussing on talent with ASD, said Mr. Barrios.
Technology on display
Drishti
Accenture launched Artificial Intelligence-powered solution ‘Drishti’ that aims to help people with visual impairment experience the world better. This is how the app works: the user clicks a picture or a scene. The app first spells out basic information, eventually presenting a “deep analysis” which includes whether or not a person is smiling, what colour his or her clothing is etc.
Pen labeller
It looks like a pen, but does much more. The pen labeller is pointed to an object, which gets labelled. A voice recognises what it is the next time the pen is pointed at it again, helping people with visual impairment recognise things.
Frog pad
Resembling a mini-keyboard, the pad is designed to help those who are capable of using only one hand or people with only two fingers. It can be installed on any computer.
