And give people who are different a chance?  Organisations small or large have seen a decline in staff numbers, in certain industries like hospitality, care, teaching, production and warehouse support. There are so few people to fill these posts. Covid is still present and organisations are still suffering from high sickness rates. 

Covid saw many of us being forced to work from home and then organisations soon realised that remote working was an excellent money-saving consideration for the future.  But often this system caused morale to drop, increasing mental health issues and loneliness and loss of camaraderie.  We spend a lot of hours at work and iso it is vital to be happy.  

During the pandemic lots of people were made redundant, lots of companies went out of business and some organisations have since seen a huge decline in their workforce.  However, lots of jobs still require people to physically attend a place of work and employers have a need to fulfil certain manual positions.   

When we are looking for staff, it costs us a fortune with recruitment agencies and on-line adverts to find staff and this system is long winded. We have offered positions to people who then fail to turn up on their agreed start date with no warning which is costly and inconvenient.

As a business owner, large, corporate or SME, have you considered employing or offering work placement opportunities to people who are autistic or who have a learning disability? Do you know the benefits of employing a person with autism?  What’s in it for you? People on the Autistic Spectrum are proven to have:

• Great attention to detail
• Find repetitive work therapeutic
• Excellent quality control skills
• Marvellous commitment to their work
• Loyal and Kind

Our young people who are part of our World of Work - Work Placement Programme are always supported once they leave us after being with us for 12 months where we have helped develop their skills and learning to be work-ready.  Our buddy system will support the young adults whilst they trial with you for 3 months, and if this works for you and the young person there should be no reason why a full time paid position cannot be agreed. 

Rules

• A CV is not required
• A formal interview should not be necessary (the stress of this causes anxiety and meltdowns)
• A minimum 24 months contract is necessary with a review after that time
• A minimum wage is met under the government guidelines

To support this SEN Work Placement Programme you must become a sponsor of our skills and learning programme which in the end can save companies money as we can match a manual workforce to your job openings.  Many local SEN Colleges, Schools and Universities are joining our programme and we have 20 places a day to help prepare people with SEN needs to be work ready.  We do the training and develop the skills so when a job opportunity arises there is no stress, a supported system is in place and you fill your manual positions and avoid costly agency fees.  

I am looking for all types of employers, large or small, who want to 'CHAMPION THE CHANGE' to provide us work openings for our young people and help me reduce the social imbalances of just 22% of people who are different in the workplace. We all live in a diverse, different world since Covid, and the need to CHANGE is imperative to increase this shocking figure.  Together We Can Make a Difference.

New shocking data highlights the autism employment gap

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has published new data that shows just 22% of autistic adults are in any kind of employment. This is a shocking figure, hence why I have developed this WORLD OF WORK WORK-PLACEMENT PROGRAMME.  When a young person between the ages of 19-25 are ready to leave supported education. A year before this happens, we are providing a 12 month skills and learning programme which teaches young people on-the-job industry, life and social skills to prepare them to be ‘WORK-READY’.

Our young people experience noise, demanding deadlines, different departments, and the general hustle and bustle of a real working factory.   Our young people work alongside my skilled workforce who share their skills, patience and slower teaching methods to demonstrate on a daily basis what being at work feels like and what is expected.  All of this increases confidence, hand-eye coordination, team building and verbal communication.  Throughout the 12 month programme, we prepare our young people to cope in the World of Work.  Also during this year, we would hope to have been provided with many job opportunities that we can match our young people too and provide hope for their future, as we hope that CHANGE is on the horizon. 

Challenges

There are challenges to consider and alternative ways of working and coping will need to be added.  Certain special needs and provisions will need to be added, but we can help you with these suggestions. 

• Noise reducing headsets
• Time out area when overwhelmed 
• Quiet lunch areas (but not segregated)
• Slower, precise instruction or visual aids will be helpful
• Continual, repetitive therapeutic precise detailed work is useful
• You cannot put any of our SEN people under pressure as they will burst
• Full support will be provided

 The proof is in the pudding as I have tested my own programme for over 14 months now and we have employed Daniel, who has become an excellent printer and candlemaker.  But he can only mange three instructions at a time, but let me tell you, nothing is ever wrong and he is learning more and more each day. His attention to detail is amazing and nothing leaves my building wrong.  He is loyal, kind, funny, clever, technical minded and understands any written instructions.  What he struggles with is processing information and so that just needs to be provided slower so that he can take it all in.  Daniel is amazing at working out machinery, printing errors and working out what is wrong.  He is a very talented and a perfect addition to my team, but he came from the programme as he could not have written a CV or attended an interview and therefore I would never have met him. 

Here is my bug hotel making team…they love their work experience.  Here, they are holding our NEW donated water bottles and pens from OKI.  This team has helped to make over 26,000 wildlife homes in 14 months.