The responses indicate that although companies clearly feel such investment is worthwhile, the skills gap can lead to increased costs and decreased productivity. Specifically, organizations are paying for significant on-the-job training or supplementing with external training to help their staff build these skills. One respondent lamented that "we resign ourselves to the fact we can hire very bright people but are going to have to start from square one when it comes to accessibility." Almost 40% said that jobs in their organizations stay open longer or go unfilled because of a lack of accessible tech skills among candidates.
Respondents project that the need for accessibility skills will only keep growing--which is great news for candidates looking for a way to stand out from the crowd! Among industry respondents, 83% reported seeing a moderate or significant increase in demand for accessibility skills over the last five years, and over 93% of industry respondents expect this demand will increase in the future. And 93.5% of all respondents reported that it was "very important" to them personally to hire more people with accessibility skills.
infographic by: www.peatworks.org
