Accessibility is Good Business

By making a commitment to accessibility, companies can reap the benefit of productivity gains and the value of retaining knowledgeable workers. Beyond that, businesses also need to ensure that they are complying with regulatory requirements that pertain to people with disabilities, technology procurement and the rights of older workers. Currently, the four most relevant regulations are the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, Section 255 of the Telecommunications Act and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967.

Workplace unprepared. Generally, the workplace is unprepared for the changing demographics. Recent research reveals that although 61 percent of firms are aware of these demographic changes, 55 percent said they were not actively implementing strategies to either attract or retain workers over the age of 50.¹⁹ With approximately 60 million baby boomers poised to leave the workforce over the next 15 years, this will likely be a significant problem for those companies.

New workers will decline. The need to invest in the current workforce is being accelerated by the decline in the number of new workers. Interest in many occupations is at an all-time low. According to the National Science Foundation, interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics has been declining for the past decade.²⁰

Gap in skill-levels may occur. Businesses are increasingly feeling the loss of seasoned and experienced managers. With organizational hierarchies and structures being thinned and flattened over the past decade, an unmanageable gap in skill levels may be created as this expertise and knowledge base dissipates and finding qualified replacements becomes more difficult.

Costs high. The costs of direct and indirect workforce turnover can be significant. According to the American Management Association, these costs typically range from 25 percent to almost 200 percent of an employee's annual compensation. Businesses need to understand not only these hard costs but also the costs of disruption of customer service and the loss of experience, continuity and corporate knowledge.

Employers must rethink strategies. A positive business benefit of this demographic shift is that several recent studies have shown that both older workers and workers with disabilities are significantly more loyal and dependable than their younger colleagues. Employers need to rethink their strategies for employee development, retention and transition with the goal of retaining long-term, high-contributing employees. They need to be proactive because workers may not self-identify their physical limitations or seek assistance. They need to recruit talent that possesses innovation, knowledge, skills and leadership, regardless of age.

New alignment needed. By aligning business policies and practices with the needs of the changing workforce, employers will retain valuable employees while maximizing productivity and, ultimately, competitiveness. Such investments send the message that employability is not a function of age but rather of each employee's ability to make a meaningful contribution to the employer's business goals and objectives.

Information in this section is excerpted from the report, "The Convergence of the Aging Workforce and Accessible Technology: The implications for commerce, business, and policy"