Employment
The current challenge
There are estimated to be around 1 million autistic people in the UK, which equates to approximately 1 in every 70 people. Of these, 680,000 are of working age, but only 30% are currently employed.
As well as providing stability and financial security, employment benefits our mental health – helping to give people a sense of purpose and the ability to make meaningful connections. This is no different for autistic people.
Therefore, it’s perhaps unsurprising that 8 in every 10 autistic people experience mental health issues such as anxiety and depression. We believe this is likely impacted by a lack of employment or sense of belonging.
Only 30% of autistic people are currently employed
"Our vision is to positively impact the lives of 10,000
autistic people through employment over the next 10 years"
Tom Purser, our CEO
Our Plans
We want to ensure that regardless of background or support needs, autistic people can have access to meaningful employment. This may come in many forms – paid or voluntary; supported or unsupported; remote, full or part-time.
As with all our work, we will be addressing gaps in data and policy barriers, as well as looking for innovative ways that we can drive large-scale change.
We know that Access to Work is not working well for autistic people, and we are engaging policymakers on that topic, as well as working to contribute to relevant national and Government discussions, for example in relation to implementing recommendations from the Buckland Review, and discussions around the recent Get Britain Working White Paper.
As part of driving the creation of thousands of jobs in the next few years, we have identified many small organisations, often in the charity sector, who are doing fantastic work in creating supported employment opportunities and pathways into mainstream work. We want to support those organisations to be able to increase the number of opportunities they can offer. This has led to the creation of our Autism Employment Network, which we expect to primarily benefit autistic people with higher support needs, including those with learning disabilities.
We are also seeking ways to support organisations offering supported employment to scale their efforts and offer significantly more opportunities for autistic people. This could be achieved via support to expand their business beyond its local beginnings, to franchise, or to expand into new markets.
Our Autism Employment Network: a different approach
We have identified that many of the incredible initiatives already supporting autistic people focus on autistic graduates in specific sectors. Many other groups remain under supported, including autistic people with additional disabilities, those with fewer formal qualifications, complex care needs, or from marginalised communities.
These individuals can bring valuable skills and a strong desire to work; and we strongly believe that the right employment is key to improving their wellbeing, quality of life and mental health.
We plan to support the numerous small, local organisations who are already making a difference across the UK through our Autism Employment Network.
Our network is for organisations that offer employment opportunities, particularly supported employment, to autistic people.
