The ministry’s director of economic and social research, Shaine Palmer, who made the disclosure during a recent labour market forum at the Planning Institute of Jamaica’s New Kingston offices, said employers and human resource managers participating in the survey pointed to the possible availability of more than 200 job openings in their organisations.

These included 112 for persons who are physically challenged; 62 for the deaf/hearing-impaired; 23 for the blind/visually impaired; and 21 for persons deemed intellectually challenged.

Palmer said approximately eight per cent of the 606 employers interviewed indicated that they employ at least one person with a disability in their organisation.

He said the positions they occupy include: accounting, law, customer service, sales, administration, guidance counselling, graphics, cosmetology, landscaping, farming, warehousing, farming, teaching, security, and information technology.

“We asked the employers (not recruiting these persons) to indicate the reasons they did not employ persons with disabilities. A number of (them indicated) that the physical infrastructure of their establishments could not facilitate persons with disabilities,” Palmer said.

Fieldwork for the survey commenced in December 2011 and concluded in 2012. It targeted 1,200 employers/human resource managers islandwide — 300 from Kingston and St Andrew; 100 from St James; 100 from St Catherine; and 70 from all other parishes.

— JIS