Employer Perceptions of the Benefits and Concerns of Supported Employment

Abstract

The purpose of this investigation was to compare the perceptions of employers who had not hired supported employees to those of employers who had hired. This question was investigated so that supported employment professionals could anticipate employer concerns, as expressed by the not-hired group, and counter those objections in the job development process by using the information gained from employers satisfied with their supported employment experience.

Employers in four types of businesses: banks, credit unions, grocery stores, and retail stores were surveyed. Large, medium, and small sized businesses were represented, as were male and female respondents.

Findings indicated significantly more positive perceptions of supported employment by employers who had hired supported employees in comparison to those who had not. Large business respondents held significantly more positive perceptions than employers in small businesses. There were no significant interactions among business type, hiring status, business size or respondent gender. Further, no significant differences were detected on the basis of type of businesses or respondent gender.

Employee dedication was found to be the highest ranked benefit of supported employment across participants as a whole, as well as across respondent groups. Extra training/ supervision demands and a lack of necessary work skills were cited across all respondent groups as the primary concerns about supported employment. The implications of these findings for job development and supported employment practice are presented. Future research needs also are discussed.