Received:
2024-11-15 | Accepted:
2025-03-25 | Published:
2025-06-30
Title
Inclusive labour market: challenges and solutions from employers' perspective
Abstract
This article is devoted to the employment problem of socially vulnerable groups, but the issue is disclosed from employers' point of view. As it is known, the labour market is represented by two sides: demand for the labour force and labour supply. In the inclusive labour market, labour supply is represented by persons from social categories of the population. In Kazakhstan, they include persons with disabilities, orphans, former convicts, alcohol and drug addicts, mothers with many children, and women raising children alone, who, due to various life situations, do not have the opportunity to work full-time and/or without special conditions of employment. These categories of people are vulnerable and need support in finding work and jobs. The other side of an inclusive labour market is employers willing to hire social group representatives. At the same time, there is a considerable gap between these two sides of the labour market. While the first side does not have the opportunity (does not know how) to find a decent job, employers willing to offer employment are understaffed and elementary do not know the peculiarities of working with persons with disabilities. Others are afraid of the difficulties in adapting workplaces to the needs of people with disabilities. In addition, there is stereotypical thinking, due to which many people believe that employees with disabilities or mothers with small children will work worse than other employees. Nevertheless, there is a trend of increasing social awareness in Kazakhstan, with employers seeking to contribute to developing a social society. In this research article, the authors confirm some of the hypotheses based on expert semi-structured interviews, while others are rejected. The research is conducted within the framework of the state order for scientific research in social sciences from the Committee of Science under the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan. In this study, we will see the difference between working with people with mental disabilities and physical disabilities and how the process of adapting workplaces for employees with these or those disabilities differs. In addition, we will show the differences between the employment of persons with disabilities and other social groups and how employers think these or those groups adapt to the work process.
Keywords
social groups, socially vulnerable segments of the population, persons with disabilities, inclusive labour market, inclusive employment, social entrepreneurship
JEL classifications
J01
, J14
URI
http://jssidoi.org/jesi/article/1314
DOI
Pages
276-290
Funding
The research was conducted with financial support from the Science Committee of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan as part of the grant funding project No. AP19676100 "Development and testing of a methodology for the employment of socially vulnerable groups of the population."
This is an open access issue and all published articles are licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
References
Acar, A., & Findikli, M. (2020). Employment of disadvantaged groups in OECD countries. International Journal of Research in Business and Social Science, 9(4), 330-342. https://doi.org/10.20525/ijrbs.v9i4.763
Search via ReFindit
Anuaruddin, N., Rahman, R., Patah, S., & Rahman, A. (2018). A systematic literature review of the barriers to job placement for person with disabilities. International Journal of Engineering & Technology, 7(30), 66. https://doi.org/10.14419/ijet.v7i3.30.18157
Search via ReFindit
Benard, S., Correll, S., & Paik, I. (2018). Getting a job: is there a motherhood penalty? Edition 1st Edition First Published 2018 eBook ISBN 9780429499821, p. 391-399. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429499821-67
Search via ReFindit
Bertrand, M., & Mullainathan, S. (2018). Are Emily and Greg more employable than Lakisha and Jamal? A Field Experiment on Labor Market Discrimination, Inequality in the 21st Century, Edition 1st Edition eBook ISBN 9780429499821 https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429499821-53
Search via ReFindit
Bezyak, J., Sabella, S., & Gattis, R. (2017). Public transportation: an investigation of barriers for people with disabilities. Journal of Disability Policy Studies, 28(1), 52-60. https://doi.org/10.1177/1044207317702070
Search via ReFindit
Bialik, K., & Mhiri, M. (2022). Barriers to employment for people with intellectual disabilities in low- and middle-income countries: Self-advocate and family perspectives. Journal of International Development, 34, 988-1001. https://doi.org/10.1002/jid.3659
Search via ReFindit
Çetin, O. (2024). Impact of higher education on employment of disadvantaged groups: a comparative study between Türkiye and the EU. Üniversite Araştırmaları Dergisi, 7(2), 181-191. https://doi.org/10.32329/uad.1464378
Search via ReFindit
Chhabra, G. (2021). Social resilience in the labour market: Learning from young adults with visual impairments in Oslo and Delhi. Young, 29(5), 508-528. https://doi.org/10.1177/1103308820977397
Search via ReFindit
Chikwe, C. (2024). Challenges in the reintegration of disabled individuals into the workforce. KMAN Counsel and Psych Nexus, 2(1), 77-83. https://doi.org/10.61838/kman.psychnexus.2.1.12
Search via ReFindit
Dillahunt, T., Garvin, M., Held, M., & Hui, J. (2021). Implications for supporting marginalized job seekers: lessons from employment centers. Proceedings of the Acm on Human-Computer Interaction, 5(CSCW2), 1-24. https://doi.org/10.1145/3476065
Search via ReFindit
Edeiken_Cooperman, N. (2017). Customized employment: a systematic approach to community integration and strategies to obtain competitive employment. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 4(7). https://doi.org/10.14738/assrj.47.3045
Search via ReFindit
Ghosh, K., Liu, Y., & Mishra, M. (2022). Labor market participation for mployees with disabilities: A cross-organizational review in India. Disability & Society, 39(4) https://doi.org/10.1080/09687599.2022.2093166
Search via ReFindit
Goodman, N. (2024). Perceptions and bias of small business leaders in employing people with different types of disabilities. Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation, 34(2), 359-372. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10926-024-10201-2
Search via ReFindit
Gupta, S., Sukhai, M., & Wittich, W. (2021). Employment outcomes and experiences of people with seeing disability in canada: an analysis of the canadian survey on disability 2017. Plos One, 16(11), e0260160. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0260160
Search via ReFindit
Hemphill, E., & Kulik, C. (2015). Which employers offer hope for mainstream job opportunities for disabled people? Social Policy and Society, 15(4), 537-554. https://doi.org/10.1017/s1474746415000457
Search via ReFindit
Henry, A., Petkauskos, K., Stanislawzyk, J., & Vogt, J. (2014). Employer-recommended strategies to increase opportunities for people with disabilities. Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation, 41(3), 237-248. https://doi.org/10.3233/jvr-140716
Search via ReFindit
Ingold, J., & Valizade, D. (2017). Employers' recruitment of disadvantaged groups: exploring the effect of active labour market programme agencies as labour market intermediaries. Human Resource Management Journal, 27(4), 530-547. https://doi.org/10.1111/1748-8583.12154
Search via ReFindit
Janssens, M., & Zanoni, P. (2021). Making Diversity Research Matter for Social Change: New Conversations Beyond the Firm. Organization Theory, 2(2). https://doi.org/10.1177/26317877211004603
Search via ReFindit
Kaye, H., Jans, L., & Jones, E. (2011). Why don’t employers hire and retain workers with disabilities? Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation, 21(4), 526-536. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10926-011-9302-8
Search via ReFindit
Khayatzadeh‐Mahani, A., Wittevrongel, K., Nicholas, D., & Zwicker, J. (2019). Prioritizing barriers and solutions to improve employment for persons with developmental disabilities. Disability and Rehabilitation, 42(19), 2696-2706. https://doi.org/10.1080/09638288.2019.1570356
Search via ReFindit
Malatji, T. L. (2024). Mobility, multiculturalism and social inclusion of migrants in South African communities. Insights into Regional Development, 6(4), 11-22. https://doi.org/10.70132/w5987894542
Search via ReFindit
Masha, A. K., & Fihla, S. (2025). Alleviation of poverty through entrepreneurship in savings and credit associations – Stokvels – a case study from South Africa. Insights into Regional Development, 7(1), 159-173. https://doi.org/10.70132/z7884944539
Search via ReFindit
Ocampo, A., Chen, Y., Restubog, S., Wang, L., & Decoste, A. (2023). A cross-lagged longitudinal investigation of the relationship between stigma and job effectiveness among employees with HIV. Journal of Applied Psychology, 108(6), 889-904. https://doi.org/10.1037/apl0001051
Search via ReFindit
Paušić, V., Krstić, T., & Vidojević, J. (2021). Obstacles to the employment of the persons with disabilities from the employer's perspective. Research in Education and Rehabilitation, 4(1), 43-52. https://doi.org/10.51558/2744-1555.2021.4.1.43
Search via ReFindit
Powell, T., Jo, M., Martin, C., Philip, W., & Astone, N. (2017). "It's like a shoulder to lean on": social support provided by an inner‐city workforce development program. Journal of Community Psychology, 45(3), 333-345. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcop.21850
Search via ReFindit
Quillian, L., Heath, A., Pager, D., Midtbøen, A., Fleischmann, F., & Hexel, O. (2019). Do some countries discriminate more than others? evidence from 97 field experiments of racial discrimination in hiring. Sociological Science, 6, 467-496. https://doi.org/10.15195/v6.a18
Search via ReFindit
Ridgeway, C. (2013). Why status matters for inequality. American Sociological Review, 79(1), 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1177/0003122413515997
Search via ReFindit
Rivera, L. A., & Tilcsik, A. (2017). Class Advantage, Commitment Penalty: The Gendered Effect of Social Class Signals in an Elite Labor Market. https://doi.org/10.1177/0003122416668154
Search via ReFindit
Salsberg, E., Richwine, C., Westergaard, S., Martinez, M., Oyeyemi, T., Vichare, A., … & Chen, C. (2021). Estimation and comparison of current and future racial/ethnic representation in the us health care workforce. Jama Network Open, 4(3), e213789. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.3789
Search via ReFindit
Sharma, S. (2016). Does education determine employment: peculiarities of the Indian labour market. Studies in Business and Economics, 11(1), 164-180 https://doi.org/10.1515/sbe-2016-0014
Search via ReFindit
Suresh, V., & Dyaram, L. (2022). Diversity in disability: Leaders’accounts on inclusive employment in the Indian context. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal, 41(3), 454–473. https://doi.org/10.1108/EDI-05-2020-0133
Search via ReFindit
Tarawneh, R. (2016). Attitudes of Jordanians people toward employment of persons with disabilities. Open Journal of Social Sciences, 04(09), 140-157. https://doi.org/10.4236/jss.2016.49013
Search via ReFindit
Taubner, H., Magnus, T., & Carin, S. (2022). People with intellectual disability and employment sustainability: A qualitative interview study. Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities, 36(1), 78–86. https://doi.org/10.1111/jar.13036
Search via ReFindit
Tessier, A. (2024). Enhancing employment access for people with disabilities through transportation: insights from workers with disabilities, employers, and transportation providers. Disabilities, 4(2), 384-412. https://doi.org/10.3390/disabilities4020025
Search via ReFindit
Tompa, E., Mofidi, A., Jetha, A., Lahey, P., & Buettgen, A. (2021). Development and implementation of a framework for estimating the economic benefits of an accessible and inclusive society. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, 41(3), 318–339. https://doi.org/10.1108/EDI-07-2020-0186
Search via ReFindit
Yavorsky, J. (2019). Uneven patterns of inequality: an audit analysis of hiring-related practices by gendered and classed contexts. Social Forces, 98(2), 461-492. https://doi.org/10.1093/sf/soy123
Search via ReFindit