Our response to the Government’s employment reforms plan

The Government has outlined plans to reform employment support, including proposals to support more young people into work. We have been supporting autistic young people to overcome barriers to work through our employability programme, Employ Autism.  

Responding to the news, Jolanta Lasota, Chief Executive of Ambitious about Autism, said:  

We share the Government’s aspirations to get more autistic young people in to work. With only a third of autistic people in work we need a radical step change to end this bitter cycle of unemployment.  

The majority of autistic young people want to work but face many avoidable barriers when job hunting. Young people tell us they feel conflicted about whether to disclose that they are autistic during the recruitment process for fear of discrimination.  

We welcome the guarantee that every young person aged 18-21 will have access to education or training to help them find a job. We know that when autistic young people have a chance to show employers their skills in action – for example through internship programmes – recruiters and managers soon wake up to the potential of the autistic workforce they have been missing out on.

We also know there is strong evidence that the longer people are out of work, the harder it is for them to gain and maintain employment. As well as working with the NHS to remove barriers to employment, the Government must build a bridge from education into employment to ensure the next generation of autistic young people can take their place in the workforce and thrive there.