Beyond the Business Case: Different Models of Including People with Disabilities at Work

When not done properly, policies or interventions that claim to be u0027inclusiveu0027 can be patronizing or even oppressive. Through interviews and focus groups with employers, service providers and the disability community in Singapore, we helped to articulate what counts as ideal or sensible inclusion of people with disabilities at work. Against those that might seek to mainstream disability wherever it exists, our findings suggest that enclaved spaces for work serve an important function despite charges of being exclusionary. Some enclaves operate as u0027work villagesu0027 that provide a protected, familiar space to accommodate unique needs while others serve as u0027diversity incubatorsu0027 that provide scalable lessons for more mainstream contexts. Within the Singapore context, policymakers largely operate within a u0027business caseu0027 paradigm that focuses on incentivizing employers and an u0027industrial modelu0027 of vocational assessment and job placement. While this has a role to play, we demonstrate the importance of attending to the neglected u0027moral caseu0027 for hiring people with disabilities.