“The wage gap for people with disabilities is 17%”

Spain has a gap in the employment and working conditions of people with disabilities, but also an opportunity. How is labor inclusion in companies advancing and improving? María Jordà, Leader of the Eurofirms Foundation, speaks to elEconomista.es to shed light on the matter.

What is the participation of people with disabilities in the Spanish labor market?

In Spain there are about 4 million people with disabilities, of which 1.94 million are of working age. The employment rate stood at 27.8% and has improved slightly. A relevant fact is the salary difference between people with disabilities and those who do not have any disabilities. It is necessary to know that their salary gap is 17%.

And the data of your Foundation?

At the Eurofirms Foundation we have managed to close 1,915 incorporations of people with disabilities in 2023, 29% more than the previous year. We are pleased to contribute to this reduction.

How do hirings come about?

There are several cases. Sometimes, the company wants to incorporate a profile with a disability into a position and asks us for a selection, consulting process, for a medium-high qualification profile, which is the direct hiring part. Direct hiring involves the most qualified profiles, the rest go for temporary work. In 2023 we will start a new consulting service for the selection of qualified profiles. It is important to analyze well so that the capabilities of that candidate fit with the requirements of the position. More and more companies are betting on this direct selection and on complying with the law through integration and as an alternative. There is greater interest on the part of companies in incorporating this profile of qualified workers with disabilities. In general, disability is associated with a low profile and we fight because it is everywhere. The most qualified profile does not have the need to go to a social entity to join the market, but it exists. Taking into account that 80% of the disability is hidden.

What type of professions are they?

Lawyers, engineers, many economists, engineers, computer scientists, programmers, cybersecurity… there is a great need for digital talent. All the degrees you can imagine. There are entities and large companies that lack 150 people to comply with the law, for example. A very great need.

How are these contracts managed?

In addition to direct selection and the temporary branch, a good part is managed through our training and incorporation programs. We incorporate almost 200 women with disabilities through the 8M Challenge, a one-year support program that begins with a job orientation that identifies skills and abilities, trains, mentors and accompanies them in entering the workplace.

How much does training matter?

There is a huge need, 20-25% do not have any type of training. It is the lever to get a job and increase the employment rate of 27%. At the Foundation we are very focused on offering training to our database and to anyone who wants to join. In addition to the 8M Challenge, focused on women, we have the Bootcamp, our technology academy. We have created a Tech Academy because there is a very large gap between the supply and demand of the digital profile, both in people with disabilities and in those who do not have one. Across the labor market it is estimated that there is a need for 100,000 digital candidates that do not exist. With this need, we believe that in the disabled group there is a lot of talent that does not emerge. With the program they do logic and reasoning tests to determine that the person has the skills to undertake such intensive training. We are on our fourth promotion, about 60 people have been trained, 85% have joined and we are managing the rest.

Can you mention success stories?

We are going to be the ‘partner’ of the Spanish Cybersecurity Institute, INCIBE, which has subsidized us with cybersecurity training for 250 people until 2025. There is a golden opportunity to contribute talent to this market need in the digital field. And also to give opportunities to those people who even reorient their career due to a sudden disability. There are companies like Huawei that finance 100% of the program, also technology companies like NTT Data (formerly Everis). When we sat down with NTT Data three years ago and saw that they had this need, we offered the possibility and have brought on 20 people. From a girl who left work due to a sudden disability to another boy with cerebral palsy. There is a lot of need, many opportunities and a lot of talent to contribute.

What is the career of a person with a disability like? Do they suffer a lot of job instability?

It will depend on how inclusive the company is and its culture. There are many people with disabilities who still do not dare to communicate it because they are afraid of being rejected. And other people are agents of change, who communicate it and carry their disability as a flag to raise awareness.

And retirement?

There has been a royal decree in 2023 that improves access to retirement, reducing from 15 to 5 the years necessary for a disabled person to collect the pension, but the ideal would be for that person not to resort to the 5 years out of necessity, but rather that she feels recognized in the environment, one more worker. I insist on that: it is about ensuring that that person does not resort to the royal decree, which I think is very good that it is put on the table and the possibility exists, because there are still very hostile environments. The law in Spain has existed since 1986, there has been a journey and a great improvement in work environments, but there is still much to do. There are some levers, which are the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It is true that it is always better to do it out of conviction than out of obligation, but for whatever reason, what is important is that companies really commit. When it is done out of conviction, the impact generated in the organization is much greater. Companies are slowly seeing that diversity adds and positively impacts all areas. We notice greater awareness. And I hope this evolves and becomes increasingly relevant so that, I insist, precisely people with disabilities do not have to resort to this law.

The Minister of Social Security said that they were going to expand the number of pathologies admitted to early retirement…

The new disabilities to expand the assumptions seem very correct to me. Disability and the range is so wide that everything that facilitates the situation of people with disabilities is positive. There are more and more pathologies diagnosed, not because there are more but because we are diagnosing them more.