Unemployment for people with learning disabilities post Covid era

1.​Project Title Employment for people with learning disabilities post COVID-19 2.​Which pathway does the project link to? E.g. Marketing & Strategy, HR, Finance, Logistics & Ops Management, International Management, Quality … HR, 3. Company background, what do you do? Please include links to relevant website, social media sites. Barod CIC is a cooperative of people with and without learning disabilities and autism. We make information accessible, develop products to enable people to live independently, social research and consultation. Wed address [login to view URL] Twitter @Barod_CIC 4. Reasons for the project (Summarise the broader issue that led to the need for the project to be undertaken) We want to do some research into why people with learning disabilities are not being employed when there is a ‘labour shortage’. We want to research the background ideas and any statistics that exist to be able to put a research grant application together. 5.​Identify and describe the project issues involved ​(Please make this as detailed as possible) Statistics indicate that about 6% of people with learning disabilities are employed (have a paid job for at least one hour a week). Many more want to work and have been promised that they can work through attending job clubs and being trained in work based situations and supported employment organisations. The aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic has included a lack of people to do minimum wage jobs in the hospitality industry or retail sector. These are the types of jobs that people with learning disabilities have been promised for the last 40 years. However, anecdotal evidence is that these roles are not being filled by people with learning disabilities. We want to know why this might be, so need a wide ranging literature search for underlying theories of how employers make decisions, what are the enablers/barriers to disabled people getting into work and what are the current statistics. 6.​Project objectives • To outline different hypotheses about why people with learning disabilities are not getting into employment when there is a labour shortage. • To describe the enablers and barriers to employment for people with learning disabilities from a social model of disability and a cultural model of disability perspective. • To identify public datasets that could give some current information on employment of people with learning disabilities and to report on them. 7.​Expected nature of the work A review of the academic and HR professional literature. An investigation of UK Data Archive datasets, eg Wales Annual Population Survey. Obtaining a relevant recent dataset and conducting statistical analysis. 8.​Please confirm accessibility of data and staff availability (where required). Please include links to any websites that maybe useful for the students. Data Archive datasets are freely available [login to view URL] Academic literature should be available to MSc students CIPD archive of information should be available to HR students. Bryan Collis and Claudia Magwood will be available for virtual meetings up to an hour a week between May and September 2023. We both have annual leave the weeks of 17 and 24 July (presentation and workshop 3) 9.​Skills required (Identify the skills that you require from the student) Skills include: • Critical thinking • Data analysis using SPSS or similar • Ability to communicate in everyday language verbally and in writing. • Ability to see the world through different perspectives • Ability to focus on the question asked Attitudes required: • Commitment to equality and social justice