Employment opportunities for the disabled; Kudos to Pick and Pay (Woodlands)

Wed, 21 Jun 2017 09:51:24 +0000

By Kanyanta E Kaunda

This week I received comments from individuals expressing their joy at the staff of Pick n Pay in Woodlands where they found young men and women with different special needs cheerfully attending to customers at the tills.

This was much to the astonishment of customers who hardly see disabled people working in uniform at the registers.

Pick n Pay woodlands joins but a few of the major organizations in Zambia that actively employ individuals with disabilities.

Many companies often disregard disabled employees especially in interactive roles for fear that they will impact business negatively.

For many disabled youth, the struggle lies not only in graduating from school but in the constant stigma they endure on a virtually daily basis.

The employment scene in Zambia greatly favors the able bodied as opposed to an equal environment that favors society as a whole.

Due to factors such as immobility and lack of public amenities people with special needs often miss out on career opportunities.

Job opportunities for people with special needs is still a topic that requires attention in Zambia. People with disabilities find it difficult to get employed and thus, end up languishing in abject poverty.

Despite the other institutions that make efforts towards this cause, many more remain in the dark and discriminate towards employees with special needs.

For this reason, emphasis has been placed on the need for employers to make jobs accessible to the disabled in society.

Employment not only improves the standard of living but breaks the poverty cycle many disabled families are forced to endure.

It is in this vein that one of Zambia’s biggest stores is playing a role. Pick n Pay is raising the bar for many other brands and organizations by employing a diverse range of employees including those with special needs.

Children growing up with disabilities often lack practical examples of adults thriving despite disabilities.  They often end up feeling frustrated, forsaken and misunderstood.  Employees often disregard the fact that like any average human being, people with special needs are capable of contributing just as much if not more to society in one way or another.

They too have families and responsibilities that can only be sustained work. Pick n Pay has taken a bold commendable step in taking this plight into consideration particularly for the disabled youth.

Employers must ensure that people with disabilities receive equal and unlimited access to employment and career opportunities.

There must be an increase in the number of disabled employees throughout the sectors In order to promote both social and national development.

Employers and the general public need to be sensitized on the vital roles people with disabilities can play.  A crucial step would be for Government and stakeholders to make basic facilities more disability-friendly.

Many public institutions today lack provisions for the disabled. Employees with special needs often find themselves in a constant struggle to get to and from work on a daily basis. Basic machines such as computers, fax machines etc. often have no provisions for users that may be living with unique disabilities.  This in turn forces employers to weigh out the potential value of a disabled employee against the cost of customizing the environment to suit the employee’s needs.

This results in a personal dilemma that often leaves the employee at the mercy of the employer which gives them a greater disadvantage.

The right to employment and job security must be enjoyed by all. Deliberate policies and strategies must be designed to encourage employers to hire disabled people.

More needs to be done to incorporate people with disabilities into various sectors such as entertainment, production, finance and the corporate world.

Often, people with special needs are limited to craftsmanship jobs leaving them out of white-collar arrangements.

In as much as craft-making is important it is a great misconception to assume that disabled people cannot do more than weave or carve.

One of the greatest barriers to the employment of people with special needs is stigma.

Stigma often restricts employers from hiring individuals with special needs as they form pre- conceived notions of what the person can and cannot do.

Potential employers often fail to grasp the value of employees with special needs opting to hire able bodied people despite obvious shortfalls.

Disabled employees often have to prove themselves more than their able- bodied counterparts despite their obvious capacity to perform the same or even better.

The country needs to see more men and women with disabilities assuming active roles in society.

To forsake people with special needs is to rob the country of an immense force that can contribute greatly to national development.

In light of this the management of Pick and pay Woodlands in particular must definitely be commended for the role they are playing in breaking stereotypes and changing mentalities by employing youth to serve in public environments despite their special needs.

This is a small step for the organization but a giant step towards the promotion of employment for people with special needs.

Kudos must also be given to all the other corporate entities that go a step further in not only employing people with special needs but improving their quality of life.

Certain institutions have been known to promote individuals with special needs through facilities such as cars to ease mobility, access to medical schemes and facilities as well as many other benefits.

People with special needs must be encouraged by the corporate world and stakeholders to continue to work hard as this keeps them off the street as well as promotes development on both a personal and national level.

Students with special needs often end up qualified by unemployed. Unlike their able bodied colleagues they play a different ball game as they have to factor in a multitude of other hurdles in the job seeking process.

The working conditions many disabled employees are forced to endure by most employers leave much to be desired.

Employment opportunities for people with special needs often end up on account of pity as opposed to an entitled liberty or freedom.

Employees often take advantage of disability as a way to exploit employees and call for unfair grounds of dismissal.

Once a worker suffers a disability even as a result of their  initial jobs, employers  deny responsibility deeming the individual  unfit  for work and dismissing them in favor of another able-bodied individual.

Employees have the right to job security and acceptable conditions of work with disabled employees being no exception.

Government and stakeholders must put in place more policies and measures that protect the rights and freedoms of individuals with special needs in the working environment to prevent them from exploitation.

It must be mandatory that every major organization or institution exercise affirmative action on the issue of disability in the employment sector by reserving a minimum number of employees with special needs per institution to allow accessibility.

More work must be done to improve infrastructure and facilities to cater for people with special needs in order to provide a conducive environment and ensure equal access to employment for all.

 The author is a journalist and Student currently pursuing her Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and Mass Communication at Cavendish University Zambia,  for comments and contributions email davidmwengwe@yahoo.com