US – Federal Government – Fear hinders hiring people with disabilities

Fear is one of the biggest barriers to the federal government hiring more people with disabilities. That fear comes from managers not knowing how a person with disabilities can do their job — even if they are qualified, said Kathy Martinez, assistant secretary of Labor for the Office of Disability Employment Policy.

“What happens when you hire a person with disabilities is you see how we do our jobs and then the mystery is over and we’re not special anymore. We become a part of the fabric of the work culture,” said Martinez, who is blind.

This week is the two-year anniversary of President Barack Obama’s executive order for agencies to hire 100,000 more people with disabilities by 2015. But the government is not on track to meet that goal, only hiring 20,000 people with disabilities for fiscal 2010 and 2011 combined, according to the Office of Personnel Management. As of fiscal 2010, less than 1 percent of the federal workforce had a targeted disability, according to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission…

via Fear hinders hiring people with disabilities – FederalNewsRadio.com.

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