To address Canada’s talent shortage, hire more neurodivergent workers

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Jennifer Fane is a senior research associate for The Conference Board of Canada’s education and skills team.

Millions of Canadians identify as neurodivergent, and they are much more likely to be unemployed than those who are neurotypical. Some employers, particularly in the IT and finance sectors, have revamped their talent management processes to better tap into this under-utilized talent pool. Many other sectors could potentially learn from these best practices to address their own critical labour shortages.

Leading entities such as Microsoft, Ernst & Young (EY), and Goldman Sachs are examples of the growing number of companies who have recently developed neurodivergent talent pipelines. They have reimagined the traditional employee recruitment and management processes from talent acquisition to performance management and employee engagement.

These programs have been remarkably successful, with some achieving a 100-per-cent offer and acceptance rate for neurodivergent candidates in customized talent management initiatives. Neurodivergent candidates have the opportunity to showcase their skills and abilities rather than struggle within the traditional hiring processes that have historically screened out their sought-after talent.

While IT and finance may have been the ‘birthplace’ of neurodivergent talent pipelines, this may partly stem from persistent stereotypes about neurodivergent individuals, particularly for those who identify as autistic. In his book, Autism and Gender: From Refrigerator Mothers to Computer Geeks, Jordynn Jack examines and critiques the stereotypes that shaped autism discussions in the 1990s. Those stereotypes cast the typical autistic person as a male computer geek, engineer, or tech tycoon – dominant narratives in both autism discourse and the IT sector at the century’s turn.

But does this stereotype hold true? Our study on neurodivergent Canadian post-secondary students suggests this narrow view is outdated. Fewer than nine per cent of surveyed neurodivergent students studied IT, engineering, or computer science. Instead, over half reported completing programs in health, business, sciences, social sciences, and arts and communication technologies. This suggests that sectors with the highest concentration of neurodivergent students may be overlooking the critical talent needed to address persistent shortages.

Canada’s health care sector continues to report high levels of job vacancies. Could the significant number of neurodivergent students completing health-related programs represent an untapped talent pool? Moreover, could this be an opportunity to build a more inclusive public sector workforce that reflects and better serves Canada’s diverse population? Fortunately, sectors not yet leveraging this vast talent pool can draw on established neurodivergent talent management models from IT and finance. These successful models can act as guides for other sectors that are ready for innovative responses to critical talent shortages.

So, what do these effective models entail? While each company will need to tailor their approaches to their workplace, successful neurodiversity talent management models share common principles – a commitment to addressing barriers faced by neurodivergent workers throughout the employment process and a willingness to adopt innovative methods for attracting, training, and supporting talent. Key steps include:

· Simplifying job application processes.

· Designing interviews that focus on candidates demonstrating their skills, not interview performance.

· Increasing the transparency and ease of workplace accommodations processes and reducing documentation requirements.

· Training HR professionals and managers in neuroaffirming and neuroinclusive practices.

· Providing neurodiversity training for all employees to foster more neuroinclusive workplaces.

Addressing Canada’s labour shortages will demand a variety of innovative approaches. With millions of Canadians identifying as neurodivergent, rethinking talent management processes that currently exclude this under-utilized talent pool could be a vital yet overlooked strategy for employers in many sectors. The result could be a win for both neurodivergent individuals and employers with critical labour gaps.