The latest official figures provided by the State Public Employment Service show a historical maximum in the hiring of people with disabilities, which between January and July 2022 has reached 2,898 contracts in the Canary Islands, 76% more than in 2021. The figures reached in pre-pandemic times are also exceeded by 5.4%.
Behind this increase lies, according to the Adecco Foundation, "the economic recovery, after having left behind the hardest stage of the health emergency, which intensely affected the economy of the archipelago, highly dependent on sectors directly affected by distancing measures such as tourism or hospitality, but also a gradual change of mentality in society and in companies, precisely due to the pandemic."
In addition, according to Adecco's analysis, the consolidation of the law that requires companies to incorporate people with disabilities, which in 2022 celebrates 4 decades, and "the greater visibility of disability in recent years thanks, among others, to globalization and the rise of social networks, have made employment no longer considered an unattainable desire or reserved for a few, to become a fundamental right and the vehicle par excellence for people with disabilities to achieve their personal goals."
In this sense, and even though hiring has increased, the participation of people with disabilities in the labor market is still deficient (34%), which means that 66% of those of working age do not have a job or are not looking for one. The activity rate for the rest of the population rises by 42 percentage points, reaching 76%.
Scholarships for young people with disabilities
With the purpose of equating the training of people with disabilities with the rest of the population and achieving their labor inclusion, the Adecco Foundation has launched the V edition of its training scholarships aimed at undergraduate, master's or FP students, who will be awarded with aid of up to 2,000 euros per applicant.
In total, the Adecco Foundation will allocate a budget of 200,000 euros to support young people born between 1992 and 2006 who have a disability certificate equal to or greater than 33% and who have a valid registration in the 2022-2023 academic year. With this amount, an investment of 1,300,000 euros is reached in the last five years.
The registration period, which was activated on June 15, will remain open until September 30 through the Foundation's website.
