One of our long serving employees working on a PVCu frame

Embracing disability and diversity in the workplace

Employing disabled people is incredibly important to our society, not only to promote social inclusion and remove the stigma that’s still attached but to significantly boost our economy too. It may surprise you, but a rise of just 10% in employment amongst disabled adults would contribute an extra £12 billion to the UK’s Exchequer by 2030!

With around 13.9 million disabled people in the UK, there are just over 3.4 million disabled people currently employed in Britain. Less surprising, is that disabled people are more than twice as likely to be unemployed as non-disabled people. Further facts and figures on disability in the UK show us:

  • On average, life costs £570 more a month if you’re disabled
  • After housing costs, the proportion of working age disabled people living in poverty (28%) is 10% higher than the proportion of working age non-disabled people (18%)
  • Disabled people apply for 60% more jobs than others
  • Only half of disabled people are offered an interview, compared with 69% of non-disabled applicants
  • 2 in 5 disabled people don’t feel confident about finding and retaining a job in the next 6 months.

These statistics can definitely make for a depressing read! However, with companies like us around there is always hope for the disabled community.

Shelforce provides disabled people with the same opportunities as everyone else

We do this by offering employment opportunities to some of Birmingham’s most vulnerable, disabled people in a sheltered environment that’s geared towards up-skilling and enhancing their confidence; ready for mainstream employment. Although, the manufacturing of quality uPVC windows and doors that meet the requirements of customers is the primary focus of our unique selling point; rather than the disabled workforce element.

Providing competitively priced, high-quality windows and doors, whilst challenging the perceptions of people with disabilities allows us to thrive with a highly skilled & diverse workforce that we’re extremely proud of.

Why Shelforce embraces disability inclusion in the workplace:

  1. Empowers the disabled community
  2. Creates a workforce that reflects the varied range of customers it serves
  3. Provides better solutions to business challenges
  4. Greater employee retention rates
  5. Increased productivity rates
  6. Heightened employee satisfaction
  7. Enables our businesses model to reach a larger market
  8. Offers greater flexibility
  9. Elevated resilience
  10. Increases awareness & understanding of disabilities

Focus on what employees can offer, not what they can’t

As active providers and campaigners of many more disabled people getting into and remaining in work, find out how to effectively embrace disability in the workplace by calling us on 0121 603 5262 or send us an online message.

Certifications

We have accreditations from a range of associations to prove the reliability of our service and the performance of our products.

Iso 9001 BSI ISO 14001 logo CE Mark Exova

Did you know...

We have an impressive history which stretches back to 1839 when we were a workplace for the visually impaired.

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