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The DiversityInc Top 10 Companies for People With Disabilities List
By Barbara Frankel - May 4, 2009
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Also read: DiversityInc Top 50, DiversityInc Specialty Lists, disability, factoids, Things Not to Say

What makes a company a great place to work for people with disabilities? An inclusive culture that values people and allows them to be open about who they are. A workplace that accommodates people's needs so they can maximize their talent and skills. A marketplace that reaches out to people with disabilities and values them as customers.

Methodology: To determine this list, we relied on answers to The 2009 DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity® survey, specifically: questions on having active recruitment programs for people with disabilities; having a strong employee-resource group for people with disabilities; and having certain work/life benefits, such as flex time, telecommuting, caregiver assistance, and leaves of absence. We also looked at the web sites of the companies to see what content/images they have about people with disabilities.

Here are The DiversityInc Top 10 Companies for People With Disabilities with a reason why each one made the list.

No. 1: IBM Corp., No. 10 in the DiversityInc Top 50. Also No. 2 in The DiversityInc Top 10 Companies for Supplier Diversity; No. 4 in The DiversityInc Top 10 Companies for Asian Americans; No. 4 in The DiversityInc Top 10 Companies for LGBT Employees; No. 2 in The DiversityInc Top 10 Global Diversity Companies


IBM has been at the forefront of hiring, retaining and promoting employees with disabilities and is expanding its efforts globally. The company also has been the most outspoken opponent of genetic testing for employees and has been clear and vocal in its values-driven mission.

No. 2: Ernst & Young, No. 3 in the DiversityInc Top 50. Also No. 1 in The DiversityInc Top 10 Companies for LGBT Employees

The firm has a world-class AccessAbilities employee-resource group that is "charged with helping the firm unleash the full abilities of all our people," according to Ernst & Young. Its members meet monthly through a conference call and have Abilities Champions who make sure disabilities-awareness messages and educational material are part of communications, meetings and events. About two-thirds of AccessAbilities members do not have disabilities themselves.

No. 3: Cisco Systems, one of DiversityInc's 25 Noteworthy Companies. Also No. 4 in The DiversityInc Top 10 Global Diversity Companies and No. 9 in The DiversityInc Top 10 Companies for LGBT Employees

Cisco provides excellent benefits for people with disabilities and for employees who are caring for people with disabilities, including an onsite health center, an onsite pharmacy, healthcare incentives, job sharing and alternative career tracks for people with long-term family-care issues.

No. 4: Procter & Gamble, No. 11 in the DiversityInc Top 50. Also No. 7 in The DiversityInc Top 10 Companies for Latinos and No. 3 in The DiversityInc Top Global Diversity Companies

The company's People With Disabilities Task Force is a national leader in accessibility in workplace accommodations, recruitment, retention, training and partnerships with organizations such as Career Opportunities for Students with Disabilities (COSD).

No. 5: Kaiser Permanente, No. 7 in the DiversityInc Top 50. Also No. 7 in The DiversityInc Top 10 Companies for Executive Women and No. 1 in The DiversityInc Top 10 Companies for Latinos

With the help of its strong Persons With Disabilities employee-resource group, Kaiser Permanente is a national leader in culturally competent healthcare and in workplace accommodations for employees with disabilities.

No. 6: SC Johnson, No. 46 in the DiversityInc Top 50

The company has first-rate employee-resource groups, including Abilities First Business Council, Elder Care Giver Support Group and Parents of Special Needs Children Support Group. The Johnson Abilities First Business Council was established in 1995 as a support group for people dealing with disabilities in the workplace and now is a key advisory group that helps the company meet its business objectives.

No. 7: Aetna, No. 48 in the DiversityInc Top 50. Also No. 5 in The DiversityInc Top 10 Companies for LGBT Employees

Aetna's new AetnAbilities employee-resource group is proving a strong and valuable asset. The company also has a Caregiver group and is an advocate for ending cultural disparities in healthcare.

No. 8: Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, No. 39 in the DiversityInc Top 50. Also No. 3 in The DiversityInc Top 10 Companies for Executive Women

The company has excellent benefits for people with disabilities, including sign-language courses and work/life counselors. Philanthropic donations include to the New York School for the Deaf.

No. 9: Sodexo, No. 6 in the DiversityInc Top 50. Also No. 3 in The DiversityInc Top 10 Companies for Recruitment & Retention; No. 3 in The DiversityInc Top 10 Companies for African Americans; No. 2 in The DiversityInc Top 10 Companies for Latinos; No. 1 in The DiversityInc Top 10 Companies for Executive Women; No. 7 in The DiversityInc Top 10 Companies for LGBT Employees

The company's employee-resource group for people with disabilities, Sodexo Organization for disAbilities Resources (SOAR), helped create a self-paced and interactive e-learning module on disability awareness for employees. SOAR spearheaded events and webinars with the National Organization on Disability to recognize and promote National Disability Employment Awareness Month.

No. 10: KPMG, No. 21 in the DiversityInc Top 50. Also No. 6 in The DiversityInc Top 10 Companies for LGBT Employees

The Big Four firm has first-rate benefits, including shared leave, shared backup care, flexible hours and job sharing. The company's Disability Network (employee-resource group) provides guidance on and raises awareness of workplace issues that affect KPMG partners and employees who have a disability or who have a child or other dependent with disabilities.

Your opinions and thoughts...
Posted Tuesday May 5, 2009 by Guest;
I am disabled, I am looking for a job, and I have applied to so many companies and they have not hired me. Will those top ten companies for disabled hire me if I tell them I am disabled and am a qualified job seeker?.
Posted Tuesday May 5, 2009 by Guest;
If you are qualified, you stand a much higher chance at being hired at one of the companies on our list than the average company. This is borne out by facts and measurement, not by conjecture or opinion..
Posted Thursday May 14, 2009 by Guest;
Employers:If you have some jobs for people with a disability designation, please send this information. If you have actually communicated with the pwd, you know that these jobs are next to impossible to find.ANYONE can find the jobs that are listed on their "disabled" websites, they are only taking these jobs from mainstream job websites. If employers are given honor for the will to hire a person who fits their list but ignore those with conditions that aren't on the list, this is more harm than good to publish that they are "helping" the disabled. I don't have a pimple, I don't even have missing leg - I have been labeled "disabled". I NEED to know where to find these employers that are saying that they are willing to hire and what type of "disability" (i.e. handicap/accomodation) that they will tolerate. To reiterate, anyone can post a sign; my employer had a many signs and posters and personal manuals about handicapped people, and was still spouting the lies as he fired me. He did not fire me because of anything that I did or did not do - I was doing an exemplary job, according to him and all of my coworkers. He forced me to get a disability designation (which prevents me from working for anyone, anywhere) and there is NO ONE that is willing to enforce the law, unless you happen to be an employer.I wish that the "happy talk" will quit, because I can't find anything to smile about being fired, having my retirement stolen, having to pay for the medical expenses that my employer ran up in order to fire me, being BARRED from working for anyone, anywhere, being threatened to have to pay back ALL of the "benefits" that I've already received, being threatened of having my home taken for medical expenses that I didn't run up and trying for 20hrs/day to find something that doesn't exist. And I do wish that some of these article writers will find a clue.I'm told by the JAN people that HOME employment is a reasonable accomodation (then they sent me a list of scammers that prey on the pwd). I don't need any health insurance, I don't need any office space, I don't need any "technical" support, I don't need a ramp, I don't need anyone to come to my home, I don't need any worthless "insurance", I don't need more harmful "benefits", I surely don't need to be housed in the nursing home, I don't need the thousands of "disabled" websites that have no help, I don't need any "easy" job, I don't need to make a jillion dollars/day, I don't need "flex" time - what I NEED is a way to survive. If you are looking for a way to cut costs, hire me!The government will NOT hire me, because I'm NOT able - more government/business cartel double talk. (Yes, they do require a Schedule A, that says that you are ABLE).I'm seeking a viable, HOME job or business (since I'm BARRED from directly working for you), NOT involving the telephone. WHERE ARE THESE EMPLOYERS? WHERE ARE THESE RECRUITERS? WHERE ARE THESE JOBS OR BUSINESSES?I've posted and sent thousands of resumes, for years (on both mainstream and "disability" job websites) and I have NOT received a single response.Author Upton Sinclair: "It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on his not understanding it." To paraphrase: It is difficult to get the truth when the lies are so very comforting for the employers and is pumping up their ego at the same time with the glory that they are "helping" and getting money from the government to boot! .
Posted Monday May 25, 2009 by Guest;
I didn't see any mention of those "hidden" disabilities such as Attention Deficit Disorder. (ADD/ADHD). When I was dignosed at age 50, I was advised to tell my employer so they could make special accomodations for me. I went from an employee with potential to one they were trying to get rid of. I was treated as if I had the plague. I no longer received annual pay increases and they eventually found a way to get rid of me by eliminating my position.If appreciated, we can contribute a great deal to an employer. We may need flex time but we can think out of the box, we are creative and are loyal to a fault. .
Posted Sunday Nov 1, 2009 by Guest;
I would like more specifics about the number of people with disabilities, type of disabilities, how they do recruitment and support people on the job..
Thank you for your comment. The articles on this page answer your questions and more:
http://www.diversityinc.com/content/1757/department/255/

You can also find statistics in our recent September/October 2009 issue of DiversityInc magazine:
http://www.diversityinc-digital.com/diversityincmedia/20090910#pg39

Click on the magnifying glass icon to zoom in.
Let us know what else you'd be interested in seeing. - The Editors of DiversityInc

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