80% of people on the Autism spectrum are unemployed or underemployed. Microsoft took a huge initiative a few years ago to start hiring people on the spectrum for technical jobs. To encourage other organizations to do the same, Microsoft, in collaboration with the University of Washington Information School, came up with the Autism @ Work Playbook. This playbook is meant as a guide for any employer who is interested in starting or expanding their inclusive hiring program and hire people with Autism.

This guide shows an employer how to plan the hiring process by answering some fundamental like “why are we doing this?”, “where do we start” and many others to make the program effective and successful. The playbook lays down all aspects required for inclusive hiring, and also shows how other big companies made their case for inclusive hiring.

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On April 23rd, Microsoft will be hosting its “Autism at Work Virtual Career Fair” from 1 – 3 PM PDT.

Watch the video below to see the hiring process for people with Autism at Microsoft.

Source: Microsoft Accessibility Blog