There are countless individuals who would be perfect additions to your contact center or business; however they are not sitting in your office right now waiting for their interview time to arrive. They are stuck at home because of disabilities, mobility problems, vision problems or because they are working around a child’s schedule that is not compatible with the nine to five work day.

Of all of the people you are interviewing on site, only a few are acceptable to you and of the rest, only a handful found the job or the hours reasonable. Let’s face it, it’s hard to find good help.  There is an entire workforce of eager to work, intelligent, motivated individuals whose only challenges are transportation related and that they cannot work full time shifts.  There is a tremendous opportunity in hiring people with disabilities and stay at home or single parents. It is a win-win situation: you get a motivated and interested work force; they get a job and the ability to be part of a growing company.

People with disabilities have often been overlooked by employers in the past; however there are a lot of people who only have mobility issues affecting their ability to drive a car but not to perform the functions required to fill an important position within a company. To show this point, let’s use examples of Zeke and Mary Ann, your potential new employees. 

Zeke, a young man with disabilities that keep him bound to a wheelchair as well as limiting his vision somewhat has not one, but two college degrees. He is well spoken, well dressed and knows his way around the business world. In fact, one of his degrees is in marketing, he only needs to get some business experience to get his foot in the door. However, he is young, a recent graduate and stuck in a wheel chair. It is not always easy for him to get around despite all of the laws that have been passed in his favor. Once he manages to get to an office, he still must face getting around completing his daily work. While some concessions can be made, there are some considerations to keep in mind. Not only is young Zeke in a wheel chair, he has limited vision as well. Most offices are not set up to handle these issues, but his own home set up is. Hiring Zeke means that a young man will get the experience that he needs and the company will get one of the brilliant and hungry young minds to fill a vital role in their telecommunications platform.

Mary Ann is a single mother and finds it impossible to get affordable, trustworthy childcare. In addition, she does not want to miss every single event in her children’s lives making it even harder to get and keep a job. Children get sick and need their mothers and most companies do not offer that many days of sick leave. In the end, Mary Ann has had to rely on part time jobs that barely pay the sitters that she has had to hire. What she needs is a better solution for herself and her family. A company that hires Mary Ann gets the benefit of a dedicated worker, one that is interested in working hard enough to support her family. In addition, they are getting a worker who might be better able to fill the time slots that no one else is interested in working. Working from home allows Mary Ann to be there with her children and to work when they are at school, or in bed for the evening if she so chooses. There is no need for her to call off of work, she sets her own hours. The company gets their needs fulfilled, they eliminate the need for sick leave and Mary Ann gets a job that works with her schedule rather than the other way around. A happy employee is a loyal employee.

By utilizing virtualization and hosted solutions, companies can have a distributed workforce of both individuals working in the office and from home.  Virtualization allows companies to employ some incredibly talented disabled Americans and those with schedule issues caused by being the single caretaker of a child.  In a country where everyone that wants to work should be able to work, virtualization technologies, such as Virtual Contact Center platforms, and forward thinking, compassionate businesses can make this possible.