Dive Brief:

• The Ford Motor Company continues to expand its initiative to hire more workers with autism, Disability Scoop reports. After a successful pilot program which added four new full-time employees to its Dearborn, MI plant, Ford said that it would add 12 to 24 additional people on the autism spectrum to its workforce next year, per the report.
• Kirstin Queen, diversity and inclusion manager at Ford, said the initial small-scale program allowed her team to determine the best course of action for a larger, more wide-scale program aimed to increase diversity in hiring in the coming years. The company wanted to implement this program correctly. 
• The program, named FordInclusiveWorks, is supported by the non-profit Autism Alliance of Michigan, which works to help integrate new employees on the job. 

Dive Insight:

Ford's diverse hiring initiatives have produced truly outstanding results. Microsoft previously made news for successfully creating a similar program. Other companies can and should study these examples in order to bolster their own efforts to include candidates with disabilities in the hiring process.

There are countless opportunities for companies to partner with non-profit groups that support this population, and there are many work-ready adults seeking careers where they can use their unique skills. Creating a program to onboard, train and support those with autism can be highly beneficial to any business.