Jobs and People with Disabilities

Not long after I wrote my Independence Birthday piece earlier this week, I heard a locally generated piece on NPR about veterans returning from the war in Iraq and the problems they face finding jobs.  While the NPR report talked about the high level of unemployment and under-employment among Iraq vets, they also mentioned that the situation is downright grim for those who returned home with a disability.

If I remember correctly, the statistic they quoted said that less than 10% of all disabled Iraq War veterans have found gainful employment.  With a presidential administration that has demonstrated hostility toward people with disabilities and has cut funding for the Veterans Administration, this shouldn’t come as a surprise.

To recap the highlights of President Bush’s assault on people with disabilities, we can remember that, in cases in which they chose to take a position, the Justice Department under Ashcroft (a KKK guy) and Gonzalez (a bush Lackey) have never taken the side of a person with a disability in an ADA case and have, in quite a number of cases, taken the position of the corporation on the other side of the case.  Continuing, moving the most successful disability program ever out of the Department of Education and into Labor, where no one is trained to run the group, set back a lot of programs substantially.  Finally, cuts to the VA and benefits for veterans, who represent a large portion of the disabled population, sets all people with disabilities back even further.

So, when you vote in this year’s Congressional election, vote for people who will do more than make false promises.  The appointment of Judge O, a man with a horrific record in ADA cases, to the Supreme Court was the Republicans’ way to remind us we are second class citizens.  No one who supported this nomination should receive a single vote from a person with a disability as, if his track record is any indication, we are in for a series of setbacks.

I did read some good news (entire article pasted in below) about Hire Disability Solutions and monster.com working together to create a web site for careers and people with disabilities.  I haven’t done any research on the matter but here’s the article for your reading pleasure:

Monster and Hire Disability Solutions Introduce
Co-branded Careers Site for Job Seekers with Disabilities

     Monster and Hire Disability Solutions Introduce Co-branded Careers
Site for Job Seekers with Disabilities
     Monster Job Tools and Content Now More Easily Accessible to
HireDS.com Visitors

MAYNARD, Mass. and NEW YORK, NY – June 12, 2006 – MonsterR, the leading
global online careers and recruitment resource and flagship brand of
Monster Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ: MNST), and Hire Disability Solutions,
LLC, a national leader in bringing together top companies and job
seekers
with disabilities, today unveiled a co-branded career resource section
on
HireDS.com’s site. This joint initiative makes Monster job search tools,
career content and resume posting capabilities more readily available to
individuals with disabilities.

       “Our relationship with Monster will allow us to provide the 49
million Americans living with a disability with access to an
abundance of
excellent employment opportunities,” said Jeffrey Klare, Founder and
Chief
Executive Officer, Hire Disability Solutions, LLC. Klare continued,
“There is expected to be an estimated worker shortage of 35 million
people
by 2030, according to the National Business & Disability Council,
and individuals with disabilities can help mitigate this shortfall.
Together, our companies can play an important role in connecting
employers and job seekers with disabilities, a group that has been
largely
overlooked in the past.”

   Powered by Monster, HireDS Career Network helps facilitate Hire
Disability Solution’s mission: “to give all that want a chance to
succeed, the opportunity to succeed.” Hire Disability Solutions’ newly
constructed site, HireDS.com, is designed to benefit the widest
possible number of job seekers with disabilities.

   “Monster’s relationship with Hire Disability Solutions will increase
the profile of our core products and services to a vast pool of job
seekers with disabilities,” said Steve Pemberton, Chief Diversity
Officer
for Monster. “In turn, we are helping employers find quality candidates
and
foster diverse and inclusive workforces, which can impact a company’s
bottom-line by improving employee morale and retention.”

   Hire Disability Solutions, LCC Hire Disability Solutions was founded
in
response to the increasing demand for services for individuals with
disabilities that promote inclusion into the mainstream employment
world.
Since its inception in 2004, Hire Disability Solutions has established
itself as a national leader in protecting and enhancing employment
opportunities for individuals with disabilities. Through its educational
campaigns surrounding employment law, education opportunities and
assistive technology, the company facilitates the success of individuals
with disabilities and employers alike.

   About Monster Worldwide
Founded in 1967, Monster Worldwide, Inc. is the parent company of
Monster(R), the leading global online careers and recruitment resource.
The
company also owns TMP Worldwide, one of the largest Recruitment
Advertising agencies in North America. Headquartered in New York with
approximately 4,300 employees in 25 countries, Monster Worldwide
(NASDAQ:
MNST) is a member of the S&P 500 Index and NASDAQ 100. More
information about Monster Worldwide is available at
ww.monsterworldwide.com.
   About Monster
MonsterR is the leading global online careers and recruitment resource.
A
division of Monster Worldwide, Monster works for everyone by
connecting quality job seekers at all levels with leading employers
across
all industries. Founded in 1994 and headquartered in Maynard, Mass.,
Monster has 26 local language and content sites in 24 countries
worldwide.
More information is available at www.monster.com or by calling
1-800-MONSTER. To learn more about Monster’s industry-leading employer
products and services, please visit http://recruiter.monster.com.

Special Note: Safe Harbor Statement Under the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995: Except for historical information
contained
herein, the statements made in this release constitute forward-looking
statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of
1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Such
forward-looking statements involve certain risks and uncertainties,
including statements regarding Monster Worldwide, Inc.’s strategic
direction, prospects and future results. Certain factors, including
factors
outside of Monster Worldwide’s control, may cause actual results to
differ
materially from those contained in the forward- looking statements,
including economic and other conditions in the markets in which Monster
Worldwide operates, risks associated with acquisitions, competition,
seasonality and the other risks discussed in Monster Worldwide’s Form
10-K
and other filings made with the Securities and Exchange Commission,
which discussions are incorporated in this release by reference.

Contacts:
Alison Lipman 718-663-6720
alipman@hireDS.com

Andy Rohr
Weber Shandwick (For Monster)
617-520-7030
rohr@webershandwick.com

Ginger Bennett Kutsch
Associate Manager of Development
The Seeing Eye, Inc.
Phone 973-539-4425
Fax 973-539-0922
url: www.seeingeye.org

Afterward

I don’t know what all of that securities law stuff above means.  I left it in to try to avoid any problems that removing it might cause.

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chris.admin

I'm an accessibility advocate working on issues involving technology and people with print impairment. I'm a stoner, crackpot, hacker and all around decent fellow. I blog at this site and occasionally contribute to Skepchick. I'm a skeptic, atheist, humanist and all around left wing sort. You can follow this blog in your favorite RSS reader, and you can also view my Twitter profile (@gonz_blinko) and follow me there.

2 thoughts on “Jobs and People with Disabilities”

  1. I could not agree with you more! One of my neighbors commented to me when we both first moved into this building over two years ago, that nobody with a disability should vote Republican. I have to say that I totally agree with her. Yet I do have some friends with disabilities who vote Republican or who have in the past. I wonder if these friends will finally change their mind come next election. On a somewhat similar note, I will be starting a part-time job this weekend. I am going to help stuff envelopes for the Infant Welfare Society, and I’m going to work in the community room of my apartment complex alongside my neighbors. There’s one other thing I wish to add. Not only has the current Presidential administration been hostile towards us, but a certain blindness group has in many cases been hostile towards its own kind.

  2. Hi BC and all. Well I did start the job that I spoke about in my last comment to this entry. I am happy to report that it went very well. I say “went” because we were laid off, at least temporarily. Apparently the printer that prints the calendars and forms broke down sometime last week. This morning I called to inquire about when we’d be starting again, and someone is going to call me back. That’s the only job I have now. I had been teaching a neighbor Windows, but either he is just extremely busy now or no longer interested. I am following up on that one too.
    Jake

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