In times of staff shortages, companies do everything they can to get additional employees. But they miss an important option: to hire people who have an occupational disability, such as an illness or disability, but who can work a few hours.

Only 12 percent of companies employ people from this group. This must and can be done much better, say the institutions that prepare these people for the job market.

“There are enormous opportunities,” says Noëlle ter Woerds, director of DZB, the society for social development in the municipality of Leiden. “When companies are a little more creative, a whole big world opens up to employees who are willing.”

Social development companies such as the DZB help people with an occupational disability to find a job at their own place of work or with a regular employer. The state contributes to their wages through subsidies.

Around 96,000 people are employed in this way, two thirds of whom work in the workshops. Many of them could transition to a regular business with the right help.

“Companies don’t want trouble”

Sjaak Winder can confirm that. He is team leader at ICT from Tomorrow, a social development company in Alkmaar that helps (young) people with disabilities to find ICT work, either within the company itself or through posting.

When Sjaak started there six years ago, he was still living with his parents and was in therapy. “I’m now engaged and have my own house. This week I was told there was a house for sale. My life has changed a bit in the past few years and it wouldn’t have happened without this place.”

But at ICT from Tomorrow they also notice that many entrepreneurs don’t wait for their employees. “Companies don’t want to hire these people because they think it’s all a hassle,” says director Laurens Overtoom.

That was understandable before, says Overtoom. “Previously they didn’t have to because there were enough people on the job market. But now we all have a problem because there is too much work and not enough people.”

A company is often shocked when someone needs additional advice, says Bouke van Zon, who works at IT company Endeavor via ICT from Tomorrow. “Then you have to explain that you have a Wajong performance, and then you immediately realize that the conversation with a potential employer is declining because they are afraid of hiring people who are far from the labor market. I’ve practically given up hope.”

“We cannot offer regularity”

Endeavor director Jeroen Rutte admits that hiring Bouke was a lot of work. “I couldn’t find the existing regulations. What kind of leadership does someone need? And he has a certain need for rest and regularity. And we cannot offer that to him on an equal footing.”

Ultimately, Overtoom arranged for Bouke to work for Endeavour, but only in Tomorrow’s ICT building. “Young people can start here with one or two afternoons a week and then we try to build it up slowly,” says Overtoom. “We’re starting to see that something is going to happen. Because whatever you water will grow and bloom, and we see that here every time.”

Bouke: “Everyone can be themselves here. It doesn’t matter what kind of disability you have. It’s like a second family.”

“The stereotypes run deep”

Professor Ton Wilthagen finds it incomprehensible that companies like Endeavor are exceptions. Thanks to state support, entrepreneurs do not take any financial risks, he says. And if the disabled remain employed by the development companies, they can arrange a lot of bureaucracy and guidance.

“Even if someone like that can only work for 20 percent, that’s still 20 percent more than nothing,” says Wilthagen. “Why don’t employers just try this ultimate deficiency? The stereotyping of this group obviously runs very deep.”

DZB director Ter Woerds invites companies with cold feet to her. “Unknown makes unloved. Visit us, see how we deal with it. Let’s see together: what can we do for each other and how can we find a solution to the current shortage on the job market.”