Recruitment and work arrangements for employees with intellectual disability in competitive employment

Norwegian employment policy, the activation policy, states that life on social security should be the last resort after exhausting all available activation measures. Despite this, people with intellectual disability are almost entirely excluded from the competitive labour market in Norway. This article highlights the conditions that promote employment of people with intellectual disability and factors that stimulate recruitment. This study explores (1) How do companies recruit employees with intellectual disability, including (a) how do private companies differ from public companies regarding recruitment and (b) which role does The Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration (NAV) and upper secondary education play in this; (2) Which working arrangements do employees with intellectual disability have? and (3) What types of support do companies receive? A quantitative survey mapped the experiences of employers who have hired people with intellectual disability and highlighted factors that may promote recruitment. Most companies recruited people with intellectual disability with support from NAV. For approximately, one in five recruitments of employees with intellectual disability, collaboration with upper secondary education played a role in the hiring process. Social networks were a way into employment only in the private sector, and a larger share of private companies employed people with intellectual disability in ordinary positions without subsidies. About 27% of the companies did not receive any support when hiring employees with intellectual disability. Due to more flexible hiring regulations, there may be more structural factors promoting the recruitment of people with intellectual disability in the private sector than in the public sector. Further, the employment of people with intellectual disability in competitive labour may depend on policies and how policies are adapted and enforced by NAV employees. More extensive collaboration between upper secondary education and workplaces could also be beneficial to recruiting employees with intellectual disability.