Proceedings of The 6th International Conference on Future of Social Sciences
Year: 2023
DOI:
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Employers’ Challenges in The Placement of Disabled Employees in Malaysia
Dr. Muhammad Ajib Abd Razak, Aizan Sofia Amin, Mohd. Suhaimi Mohamad, Siti Marziah Zakaria, Surendran Rajaratnam, Arena Che Kasim
ABSTRACT:
Employing disabled workers presents a huge challenge to employers especially in understanding the needs of the disabled in terms of physical workplace facilities, emotions and feelings, interpersonal relationships, and categories of disabled. Although the Malaysian government has launched several initiatives to boost employers’ efforts to employ disabled workers. However, preparation in terms of understanding the needs of the disabled in the workplace is important to examine. Therefore, the main objective of this study is to explore the challenges and issues faced by the employers within five to six months after employing disabled workers who are the participants in the career skill Peneraju Juang Program. To uncover these issues, a total of 15 employers from various sectors were interviewed using the focus group discussion (FGD) method which were then transcribed and analyzed using thematic analysis. The following five themes emerged; need to provide guidance and training continuously, the challenge of understanding the emotions and feelings of disabled employees, needing to update disabled-friendly workplace facilities and environments, assigning tasks that suit the abilities and skills of disabled people, and providing social support through colleagues. These themes can be used as a guide in developing interventions, a catalyst plan for the marketability of disabled workers and help employers in terms of physical and mental preparation in understanding the culture of working with disabled workers harmoniously. The conclusions of the study are detailed, and the main implications are discussed.
Keywords: employers, challenges, placement, persons with disabilities, employment