Oregon Business Plan

Read the OBLN Accommodation Initiative: Here

Background

Why the OBLN is aggressively working to include accommodation of people with disabilities as an integral part of the Oregon Business Plan...

Commenting on the inclusion of "accommodating Oregonians with disabilities" in the Oregon Business Plan, Lucy Baker, Executive Director of the OBLN explains; "This is an indicator of business health in Oregon as well as an indicator of our interest in diversity. It is forward thinking, as well." The OBLN is made up of Oregon's leading employers, large and small. They realize their ability to hire and retain a skilled workforce over the next 15 years is going to depend in large part on our collective skill with accommodating people. That includes people with disabilities, the changing needs of our aging workforce and it includes accommodating our new workforce too, who have a large number of working single parents. We can't wait any longer to get ready. These changes are starting now. The extent to which Oregon can lead the nation in accommodation is the extent to which can keep competitive in the next big battle: the fight for skilled workers.

Consider what we are facing in the area of disability in the workplace.  In 2002, the first boomers are starting to retire and as that ramps up over the next 10 years, our workforce will be loosing 1/3 of its most skilled members with too few new workers to fill the positions. The leading causes of workplace disability are arthritis, back trouble and heart disease. So, it's no surprise that 15% of workers over the age of 45 have these challenges. We can't afford to let that kind of talent walk out the door early because accommodation for their situation was not used.

Add to that the 22,000 Oregon workers last year who have acquired a short or a long term disability on the job. There again, the most successful companies at using accommodation are far ahead of the game in getting skilled labor back on the job, and reducing the timeloss costs to the company. Last year, Vocational Rehabilitation's average client age topped 40 for the first time. These are Oregon's most skilled workers and we need them back in the workforce. 27% of Oregonians with disabilities have the degrees and advanced degrees that we need in this state, and yet 60% of them remain unemployed.

Accommodation is a powerful business strategy to retain a great workforce in this next 15 year period and beyond. Employers call me often to see if their facility has basic accessibility. They usually call because they are accommodating a worker with a disability, but that ultimately helps everyone, including their customers. The average cost of 98% of all accommodation is less than $600 and the average cost of just one timeloss incident from injury on the job is $3,800.

As an Oregon Business Plan initiative, "Accommodation of Oregonians with disabilities" is an opportunity to do some needed visioning and planning as Oregon business prepares for the aging of its workforce.  We need to leverage all the talent we have against this change and accommodation is a powerful tool, that ultimately benefits us all."

January 2005 - The OBLN successfully gets accommodation of Oregonians with disabilities recognized by the Oregon Business Plan!

From Page 14... “Accommodating Oregonians with Disabilities. A new business network has formed to address how to better include Oregonians with disabilities more fully into the workplace. Effectively tapping and retaining the skills and buying power of people with disabilities stimulates the state's economy and incorporates a growing pool of skilled workers traditionally overlooked by business.”

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