The article “Software company seeks to hire autistic workers in Vancouver”, from The Vancouver Sun, is about SAP (Systems, Applications and Products), an international application software company that is seeking autistic workers through the help of a Denmark firm, Specialisterne. In BC alone, the number of adults with autism is estimated at 40,000 and less than 25% of them have stable jobs.
SAP, based in Germany, has hired autistic people in three other countries and is now seeking more workers in Canada. Not only does the hiring benefit the autism community, but also SAP itself as the company reveals an increase in productivity after hiring people with autism. The head of human resources SAP, Baerbel Ostertag, says autistic workers “have extreme attention to detail, they are outstanding in terms of memorizing things, also they are logical thinking.”
The action of SAP is acknowledged by local BC autism support groups and the autism support groups encourage other business to hire in similar manners. In Canada, SAP’s hiring process is progressed with the help of Specialisterne. Specialisterne is a company that introduces autistic people to the work force and train employees in companies such as SAP to work cooperatively with autistic workers. This Denmark-based company has branches in numerous countries world-wide. Its founder, Thorkil Sonne, has a son diagnosed with autism, and Sonne was inspired to establish Specialisterne to engage autistic people into suitable working environments.
Thorkil Sonne
SAP and Specialisterne are working together to better the autism community. The article has mentioned a few local BC companies that hire people with autism, but little international companies are known for doing so. SAP and Specialisterne are making a social impact by offering work opportunities to autistic people.
“Software companies seeks to hire autistic workers in Vancouver”
The SAP initiative highlights the good that can be found from those with autism, unlike other companies and people who believe they are incompetent and difficult to work with (quite the contrary!). They are creating jobs for people in the autism community, which makes a huge impact in their world as it is a struggle for them to attain/maintain jobs. Great article displaying the proficiency of people with autism!