Employment of autistic people

The employment of autistic people is a complex social issue, and the rate of unemployment remains among the highest among all workers with physical and neurological disabilities. The rate of employment for autistic people is generally very low in the US and across the globe, with between 76% and 90% of autistic people being unemployed in Europe in 2014 and approximately 85% in the US in 2023. Similarly, in the United Kingdom, 71% of autistic adults are unemployed. Many autistic adults face significant barriers to full-time employment and have few career prospects despite the fact that approximately 50% of autistic individuals have a normal or high-normal IQ and no significant physical disabilities. In fact, autistic young adults are more likely to be unemployed than people with learning disabilities, intellectual disabilities, or speech/language impairment.

The majority of autistic people want and are able to work, and there are well-publicized examples of successful careers. On the other hand, many autistic people have long been kept in specialized institutions, and even larger numbers remain dependent on their families. The most restricted prospects are for nonverbal people with behavioral disorders. Even highly functional autistic adults are often underemployed, and their jobs options are limited to low-skilled, part-time, discontinuous jobs in sheltered workshops. Many countries with anti-discrimination laws based on disability also often exclude autism spectrum disorder (ASD), as many companies and firms lobby against its inclusion.

A wide variety of careers and positions are potentially accessible, although positions requiring little human interaction are notoriously favored, and associated with greater success. Sectors such as intelligence and information processing in the military, the hospitality and restaurant industry, translation and copywriting, information technology, art, handicraft, mechanics and nature, agriculture and animal husbandry are particularly sought-after and adapted.

Several issues for low employment (and high lay off) rate of autistic people have been identified in peer-reviewed literature:

1. difficulties interacting with supervisors and coworkers, which stem from the double empathy problem creating a comprehension barrier between the autistic employee and their generally non-autistic colleagues. Examples include "not asking for help when needed or locate other work to complete, when their supervisors were unavailable" and "insubordination after responding to feedback by arguing with supervisors and refusing to correct their work".
2. sensory hypersensitivities, and from
3. employers' intolerance of these particularities, even though such problems can be easily corrected with appropriate training and low-cost job accommodations.

Frequent discrimination on the job market reduces the prospects of autistic people, who are also often victims of unsuitable work organization. A number of measures can be put in place to resolve these difficulties, including job coaching, and adapting working conditions in terms of sensoriality and working hours. Some companies practice affirmative action, particularly in the IT sector, where "high-functioning" autistic people are seen as a competitive asset.

Nevertheless, these efforts have had mostly cosmetic effect, and did not result in a statistically significant improvement in the employment outcome of autistic adults. In a 2021 Forbes article Michael S. Bernick wrote:

1. Autism employment initiatives with major employers continue to grow in number, but combined they impact a very small percentage of the autism adult population.
2. Universities, major nonprofits and foundations have lagged behind the private sector in autism hiring, even though, with their missions, they should be at the lead.
3. "Autism talent advantage" is a common phrase among advocates, usually associated with technical skills, memory skills, or some forms of savant skills. But the past few years have shown that the technical skills are present in only a small segment of the adult autism population, and the memory and savant skills are not easily fit into the job market.
4. We're learning that "autism-friendly workplace" should mean far more than lighting or sound modifications... The true "autism friendly" workplace will be one with a culture that balances business needs with forms of greater patience and flexibility.
5. We're learning the importance of addressing comorbidities that have neurological ties to autism. Such comorbidities as obsessive-compulsive disorder, anxiety disorder and major depressive disorder...bring impediments to job success that are far more serious than failure to make eye contact or understand social cues.