Nearly two in three (63%) neurodivergent workers believe employers view neurodiversity as a ‘red flag’, research has revealed.
A study by Zurich UK showed nearly half (47%) of adults hide their conditions from prospective employers, while the stigma stops 51% of them disclosing their neurodiversity.
Among the 1,000 neurodivergent people polled, a similar proportion say they have been discriminated against when seeking a new job.
According to more than three in 10 (31%), their application was not taken further once they had disclosed their condition, while 28% claim they were rejected on subjective grounds, such as communication style of team fit.
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A further 27% said comments were made about their abilities or they were ‘ghosted’ by recruiters after disclosing (25%) their neurodiversity.
As many as one in five (21%) of neurodivergent people said they have been laughed at because of their condition, and one in six (16%) had a job offer withdrawn.
More than two in five (42%) worry about discrimination from hiring managers or recruiters, while a similar proportion (41%) think that revealing their condition would evoke preconceptions about who they are.
One in six (16%) admitted they wouldn’t disclose their neurodiversity since they had never done so previously.
Commenting on the research, Steve Collinson, chief HR officer at Zurich, said: “With over half of neurodivergent adults experiencing discrimination and two thirds saying employers see their neurodiversity as a ‘red flag’, it’s clear there is still a way to go when it comes to creating neuroinclusive workplaces.
The research revealed that more than half (54%) of those polled thought recruitment processes aimed to weed out neurodivergent candidates instead of assess their abilities, which is in line with findings from the Buckland Review of Autism Employment that indicated neurodivergent people faced more barriers to employment because of the way the application and interview processes were designed.
Unnecessary barriers
Collinson added: “Our research shows that traditional recruitment processes are creating unnecessary barriers for these candidates and could be excluding as much as 15% of the job market, which is why it’s so important that employers adopt inclusive practices at hiring level – not just to already onboarded employees.”
Many of the neurodivergent jobseekers polled have struggled during interviews, with 37% panicking because an overly complicated question structure, 26% citing long and elaborate applications, 24% noting vague job descriptions that are hard to relate to and 23% finding timed tasks difficult.
Other barriers cited by candidates included group-setting assessments (22%) and pre-prepared presentation tasks (17%), with 96% saying struggles had negatively impacted their confidence and 95% claiming their mental health had been adversely affected. Their ability to self-promote and earnings capacity had also suffered, according to 93% and 92% respectively.
Just 17% were offered adjustments at the interview stage without prompting, but a third (32%) were only given this option after asking. Four in ten (42%) were not offered adjustments at all.
Five adjustments
The five adjustments that were identified by neurodivergent candidates as being the most helpful were explaining instructions and expectations clearly in advance (38%), removing group interviews and assessments (32%), only asking for essential job requirements and qualifications – for example, not specifying a degree unless it’s essential to the role (32%) – avoid using ambiguous, literal or subjective language in job descriptions (30%) and sharing adaptations that can be given or have been given before as examples (29%)
However, the survey did find that nearly two in three (63%) believe things have improved for neurodivergent people at work, with 55% believing it is easier to reveal neurodiversity than previously.
Marc Crawley, founder and director at recruitment agency Diversita, which supports neurodivergent job seekers, said: “It doesn’t take much to consider how to make recruitment processes neuroinclusive and unlock the potential of neurodivergent talent – in short, it comes from a lack of awareness and understanding. The job market for now is way behind the curve but every day we see progress from companies that embrace neurodivergent talent, and these companies will be the beneficiaries.”
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