Action taken by GCHQ and BAE Systems to encourage neurodiverse women into cybersecurity roles in their organisations is an example of how employers can target recruitment drives at under-represented groups to address skills gaps, an employment law expert has said.
Neurodiversity refers to the variation in human cognitive function. It is estimated that as many as one in five people in the UK have neurodevelopmental differences which result in a less typical way of learning and processing information. Associated with the different forms of neurodivergence are common skills and attributes well suited to work in technology roles.
The Guardian has reported that GCHQ and BAE Systems are “actively seeking women with autism spectrum disorder, dyslexia, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)” to fulfil jobs in cybersecurity.
Last year, the National Autistic Society described a statistic published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), which showed that just 22% of autistic adults were in paid work, as “a shocking figure”. At the time, the charity said: “We are really worried that out of all disabled people, autistic people seem to have the worst employment rate. While not all autistic people can work, we know most want to.”
The latest data published by the ONS shows that while the proportion of people with a disability that are economically active in the UK has grown steadily in recent years, it remains below 60%.
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