Abstract
BACKGROUND: Individuals with disabilities are often far removed from the
labour market and research shows that employers’ negative attitudes toward persons with
disabilities create a barrier to attaining employment.
OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to investigate Swedish employers’
experiences and attitudes toward hiring persons with various disabilities.
METHODS: A vignette method with accompanying questions was used. A total of
212 employers, who were actively seeking to hire, were recruited via an online employment
site and participated in the study.
RESULTS: The results indicated that there is some interest for employers to
hire persons with disabilities and that this depended on the type of disability a person
has. Other results demonstrated that previous experience of employing persons with
disabilities was linked to greater interest in hiring, that employers had greater interest
to hire than they thought other employers had, and that openness about the disability was
deemed as an important factor in the hiring process.
CONCLUSION: The novelty of this study is its use of a vignette design to
investigate employers’ attitudes in Sweden. Moreover, the results are much in line with
international research. This contributes to knowledge and development of increasing
employment for persons with disabilities.
