A new study has found that two out of five employers in Australia would not consider hiring people diagnosed with a psychopathological disorder. These employers fear that such employees might break down at work or take too many sick days off, says the study.
In fact, it was found that employers prefer hiring jobseekers who struggle speaking English or had no higher education degrees than considering people with mental illness, even if they fit all the qualifications for the position.
The survey, conducted by McNair Ingenuity Research in Australia, gathered information from over 256 small and medium-sized Australian businesses. It was discovered that mental illnesses, from anxiety disorders all the way to psychiatric disorders, are still the biggest barrier to employment.
The survey revealed that "stigmatized views" on mental health are alive among employers, doubting the state government's "ambitious" objective to improve the workforce inclusion and participation of people with mental illness by up to 50 percent by year 2020.
WISE, a national non-profit jobs agency that commissioned this study, noted that stigma and the "fear factor" has long been barricading able and willing employees out of the job market. WISE Pakenham's business manager David Nichols believes that people with mental illness are reliable and hard-working. "Once we get them into the right employment, their efforts are extremely high, their attendance is extremely high, and their desire to achieve is extremely high," he strongly reiterates.
The state government of Australia has built a mental health employment strategy outlining a plan to increase workforce participation of people across both private and public sectors by 2020. The plan includes initiatives on boost tailored training programs, funding anti-stigma campaigns, designing guidelines, providing support for employers, and setting up "social firms" in Victoria to employ individuals diagnosed with mental illness.
Mr. Nichols believes that the government should be doing more to change employer perceptions.