Understanding the barriers to hiring autistic people as perceived by employers in the United Kingdom.
Marianne Day, Chantelle Wood, Elizabeth Corker and 1 others
PMID 39629787WHAT IT FOUND
Employers are willing to hire autistic people but lack knowledge on adjustments and workplace policies.
Previous hiring experience was the strongest predictor of intent. Perceived knowledge did not match actual knowledge, suggesting education alone is insufficient without practical support and structural changes.
Key findings
01Previous experience of hiring autistic people was the factor most strongly associated with intentions to hire.
02Key barriers identified were lack of knowledge about autism and employment law, and a lack of existing systems for making workplace adjustments.
03Perceived knowledge of autism was not associated with actual knowledge scores, indicating a mismatch between confidence and competence.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
The sample was recruited from Prolific, an online panel, which may not represent the broader population of UK hirers. There was an overrepresentation of White, male, and London-based participants compared to UK census data. The study measured intentions to hire, not actual hiring behaviours, and intentions do not always translate to action. Participants were excluded if they were autistic, so the study reflects only non-autistic employer perspectives.
Declared interests
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest. The work was funded by The Colt Foundation (grant no. CF0422).
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that increasing autism knowledge will automatically lead to more hiring. The study found that perceived knowledge did not match actual knowledge, and previous hiring experience was a much stronger predictor of intent than knowledge scores. Employers may feel confident but lack the practical systems to support autistic employees.