Charlotte Aldred Books

The Autism Employment Gap

 

First Published on LinkedIn March 14, 2025

Introduction

The autism employment gap, which is the difference between the employment rate of autistic people and the employment rate of the population as a whole, is substantial and persistent. This article, which has been written to increase awareness of the poor employment situation of autistic people, describes the current position, some of the reasons why the gap exists and the impact that it may have on the individual and society as a whole. Future articles will describe what could be done to reduce this gap.

The Current Employment Situation of Autistic People

The employment situation of autistic people is shocking, with approximately 70-80% unemployed, even in countries where awareness of autism is high.

In February 2022, the UK Office of National Statistics (ONS) found that the employment rate of autistic people in 2021 was 22%, significantly lower than the employment rate of 81.6% for non-disabled people.  In addition a survey by Ambitious about Autism found that more than a quarter (27%) of young people with autism were not currently in education, employment or training (NEET), compared with 14% of the general population. 

Unfortunately education does not seem to help. Amongst higher education students, autistic people have some of the worst employment outcomes of any disabled student group,  with autistic graduates being the most likely to be unemployed, in part-time work, on temporary contracts or on zero-hours contracts. The employment gap between disabled graduates and those with no known disability was seen to grow with increasing qualification level. Despite the fact that many adults, with what used to be called Asperger syndrome or high functioning autism, are intellectually capable and educationally well-qualified relative to the general population, they appear to be under-represented in senior organisational roles. 

In reality the actual employment situation for autistic people is considerably worse than the above would suggest because many: 

  • are engaged in work for which they are over-qualified and which underutilises their knowledge, skills and experience;
  • change jobs more frequently;
  • earn less than their peers with equivalent qualifications and experience;
  • work fewer hours than they would like. 

Why Does the Autism Employment Gap Exist?

A major barrier to the successful employment of autistic individuals is the lack of awareness, knowledge, understanding and acceptance of autism by career counsellors, employers, managers and staff at all levels. A lack of awareness and understanding may result in:

  • inappropriate recruitment processes;
  • an unwillingness to provide suitable workplace accommodations;
  • a focus on the difficulties experienced by autistic people, rather than their valuable skills and talents;
  • concerns about getting support wrong;
  • ignorance of where to go to obtain advice. 

In addition to the problems associated with employers’ lack of understanding of autism there are other reasons for the autism employment gap, including:

  • autistic people’s small social networks which can make it difficult to access employment opportunities given that a large proportion of jobs are secured through existing social networks; 
  • school dropout;
  • school absence;
  • at times, over-qualification. 

1. Inappropriate Recruitment Practices

The lack of understanding of autism means that many organisations discriminate against autistic people because of their recruitment practices: advertisements, application forms and interviews can all prove to be a significant barrier.

Advertisements:

Many adverts ask for a lot of general qualities such as good social skills, ability to work in a team and so on, rather than the highly specialised skills that are actually essential for the role in question. A really good autistic candidate, with the right specialist skills, might never apply if they believe they do not fulfil all the advertised requirements. 

Application forms:

Paper forms that require good handwriting and spelling, even though this isn’t actually needed for the job, or online application forms, which don’t use spellcheckers or allow assistive technology, may prove to be a barrier for many autistic applicants.

Interviews:

Interviews can be a particularly significant barrier to finding a job, as they rely heavily on good social and communication skills.  Most interviews tend to assess a candidate’s ability to perform in an interview rather than their ability to carry out the advertised job. In this scenario an autistic applicant’s weaknesses are obvious and their strengths are hidden, which is why qualified autistic candidates often fail to get through the process.

In addition, an autistic candidate’s anxiety levels may be so high that they are unable to demonstrate what they are capable of, particularly if they are subjected to:

  • hostile sensory environments (e.g. bright lights, noise, circulating assessors, unregulated room temperature and so on); 
  • interview panels;
  • psychometric testing;
  • or assessment centres.

2. Inappropriate Retention Practices

A lack of understanding of autism may lead to several management practices that can make the working life of an autistic individual extremely difficult. These practices include:

  • an unwillingness to provide workplace accommodations;
  • a lack of clear communication;
  • an inability to treat everyone as an individual;
  • chaotic working environments;
  • an unsuitable workplace design (such as noisy open-plan offices);
  • a culture of bullying and discrimination.

The Impact of Unemployment on the Individual and their Family

Employment is key to a person’s quality of life and a crucial part of growing up and maturing into an adult. Employed autistic individuals experience financial, emotional and health benefits when compared to those that are unemployed. Work can provide: 

  • financial and material security;
  • a positive effect on well-being, quality of life and self-esteem;
  • a positive effect on mental health, thereby reducing the incidence of depression;
  • a sense of identity;
  • a structure to the week;
  • a reason for getting out of the house;
  • opportunities for social connections and a way to meet the need for inclusion and belonging;
  • an opportunity to keep active;
  • a way to contribute to their community;
  • a meaning and purpose to life.

Unemployment meanwhile can be detrimental to health, is responsible for an increased likelihood of heart attacks in older people and a risk factor for suicide, which is one of the leading causes of early death for autistic people.

The Impact of Unemployment on Society

The impact on society of not employing those autistic people that are perfectly capable of working is quite significant, both in terms of the financial cost to the taxpayer and the loss of competitive advantage to the businesses that don’t make use of the talents of this particular group of people.

Enabling more people to work is good for the economy, with increased tax receipts and personal spending power and a reduction in the amount spent on income support benefits, medical services and day support programmes. 

In order to survive in an increasingly global working environment, it is important to have a diverse, creative and innovative workforce (such as autistic employees) capable of thinking ‘outside the box’. Hiring autistic people can bring increased productivity, reduced costs, increased profits and shareholder returns. 

Conclusion

This brief article has summarised the main reasons for the autism employment gap and described the impact this gap can have on autistic people and on society as a whole.