Great news! We released our 2011 DePaul Industries disability employment statistics today, showing an increase of 21% of hours worked by people with disabilities.
This announcement comes on the heels of DePaul being named one of the ‘100 Best Companies to Work For in Oregon’ by Oregon Business magazine for the second year in a row. We’re proud to be able to employ such a large number of people, including a significant percentage of people with disabilities.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the nationwide unemployment rate for people with disabilities was 13.6% in January 2011. That’s compared with 9.7% for people without disabilities. In our combined staffing, security, and contract manufacturing divisions across Oregon, Washington, and Arizona, we employed 1,513 people with documented disabilities in calendar year 2011. And those individuals earned wages & benefits of nearly $11.4 million. And those numbers are rising.
Our President & CEO, Dave Shaffer, chimed in with a comment regarding our growth and expansion: “With plans in place to nearly triple our employment of people with disabilities within five years, we’re excited about this significant increase in hours worked. It’s made possible by business with our customers—the more our customers outsource their staffing, packaging, or security work to DePaul, the more we can leverage the highly effective and highly underutilized workforce of people with disabilities.”
Questions about our expansion plans or about our integrated social venture structure? Leave a comment below or get in touch.
