The Talent We’ve Always Missed: What History Teaches Us About Disability and Employment Today

Employment has always been tied to how society defines value, productivity, and worth, and people with disabilities have often been left out of that definition. In this six-part blog series, we explore the history of disability and employment in the United States, from the earliest labor systems to the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act and beyond. Each post examines how attitudes toward work, ability, and merit shaped who was included and who was excluded, and why those patterns persist today. This series connects directly to the themes in The Talent You’re Missing, which examines how merit-based hiring can help employers move beyond outdated assumptions and recognize the talent that has always been there.

Where We Are in the Series

This final post brings together the full history of disability and employment and looks ahead to what work can and should look like.

Throughout this series, we traced how disability has been understood in relation to labor, productivity, and economic value. From early labor systems to institutions, rehabilitation programs, and finally civil rights protections, one question has remained central: who is considered “fit” for work, and why?

What History Makes Clear

Across centuries, a consistent pattern emerges. People with disabilities have rarely been evaluated based on their skills, experience, or potential. Instead, they have been measured against narrow ideas of productivity and “fitness” for work.

From slavery and poorhouses to large institutions and rehabilitation systems, responsibility was repeatedly placed on individuals to change, rather than on workplaces to adapt. Disability was treated as a personal problem to be fixed, managed, or separated, not as a natural part of a diverse workforce.

The passage of the ADA marked an important shift by recognizing discrimination and requiring access and accommodation. But history reminds us that laws alone do not undo deeply rooted assumptions. Understanding where these ideas came from helps explain why disability talent continues to be overlooked, even decades after legal protections were established.

Progress Worth Recognizing

There is real progress worth acknowledging. Employment outcomes for people with disabilities have improved in recent years. More employers are adopting inclusive hiring practices, flexible work arrangements, and accessible technologies. Conversations about accommodations, job redesign, and retention are more common than they were even a decade ago.

The COVID-19 pandemic also provided a powerful and unexpected lesson. In a matter of weeks, workplaces adapted in ways long thought impossible. Remote work expanded, schedules became more flexible, productivity was redefined, and technology was used creatively to keep organizations running.

What many people with disabilities had been requesting for years suddenly became standard practice, and many organizations did not just survive these changes; they thrived. COVID-19 proved that workplaces can change, evolve, and remain effective when flexibility is treated as a design choice rather than an exception.

It is also important to recognize the scale of opportunity. More than 70 million adults in the United States report having a disability. This represents an enormous and diverse talent pool across all industries, education levels, and skill sets.

Employment matters. It affects economic stability, independence, identity, and participation in community life. For employers, inclusive hiring is not charity or compliance. It strengthens teams, improves retention, and expands access to talent that has historically been excluded.

Merit-Based Hiring as the Path Forward

If history shows us what went wrong, merit-based hiring shows us a way forward.

For much of history, people with disabilities were excluded from work not because they lacked ability, but because hiring systems relied on assumptions, rigid norms, and narrow definitions of productivity. Merit-based hiring challenges those patterns by focusing on what matters: qualifications, skills, experience, and performance.

When employers clearly define merit and evaluate candidates based on essential job functions, disability becomes less of a barrier and more of a natural part of workforce diversity. Merit-based hiring also encourages job design that allows people to work in different ways without lowering standards or expectations.

This approach benefits everyone. It creates fairer hiring processes, stronger teams, and workplaces that are better equipped to adapt, innovate, and grow.

What Comes Next Is a Choice

History shows us what happens when systems are designed to exclude. The future depends on whether we choose to build on what we now know is possible.

The changes made during COVID-19 should not be viewed as temporary exceptions. They are a proof of concept for how work can be structured differently and better. Moving forward means continuing to expand options and flexibility and pairing that flexibility with merit-based hiring practices so people with disabilities can be active, meaningful contributors to the workforce.

This requires a shift in how work is designed and evaluated:

• Designing jobs around essential functions, not assumptions
• Removing barriers instead of screening people out
• Evaluating candidates based on merit, skills, and potential instead of myths

The decisions employers make today will shape whether the next chapter of disability and employment repeats the past or moves toward something better.

Why This Series Matters

This series was not just about history. It was about understanding how we got here, so we can make better decisions going forward.

Disability has always been part of the workforce. The challenge has never been a lack of talent. It has been a failure to recognize it and a failure to design hiring systems that allow talent to be seen.

Merit-based hiring offers a practical, effective path forward, one that aligns opportunity with ability and opens the door to a more inclusive future of work.

Want to Learn More About Disability and Employment?

The Talent You’re Missing explores these themes in greater detail and demonstrates how merit-based hiring helps employers move beyond outdated assumptions and recognize talent with disabilities. At Disability Insights, we help organizations apply these ideas in practical, real-world workplace settings.