Disability Employment Month was Celebrated!
Written by Karen Lai, Employment Connector
This past September marked the fourth annual Disability Employment Month in British Columbia and provided an opportunity to celebrate the contributions of people with disabilities in the workforce, and the employers and communities who support their success.
By raising awareness about the skills that people with disabilities can bring to the workplace and encouraging businesses to build inclusive, diverse workforces; people with disabilities have more opportunity to contribute to the economy, earn an income, and better support themselves and their families.
There were many activities celebrating the good work of many agencies and inclusive employers. This allowed for the sharing of resources, collaborating new ideas, and learning new skills. It happens slowly but surely. These are just some of the events that happened around our city:
- WorkBC Vancouver invited us you to their lunch and learn event to educate and support employers looking to embrace inclusiveness and hire persons with disabilities. Many service providers spoke along with the BC Presidents Group and BC Workplace Innovation
- Disability Tea & Employment Forum
There were stories from people who have overcome employment barriers to find success in the workforce. The event happened at the Pacific Autism Family Centre and it provided space for presentations from community organizations, variety of industries and sectors, and how people with diverse abilities have become valuable team members
- Vancouver Job Fair
There were over 60 employers from the public and private sector that were there to employ candidates for over 1500 positions.
There were many more events celebrating the positive movement of including people with disabilities in the workforce. Many employers that are on board shared their belief that this works, and it diversified their organizations, provided that their skill-based meets with the job opportunity. Let’s keep the momentum going as we celebrate disability employment in 2019!