UK employers are waking up to the “competitive advantage” of hiring people with conditions such as ADHD and autism, as data shows a six-fold increase in job adverts mentioning terms related to neurodiversity since 2019.
But policy experts and campaigners warn that companies need to do more to improve labour market access for neurodivergent candidates as employment rates for this group remain stubbornly low.
Figures from hiring website Indeed, shared with the Financial Times, indicated that 2.1 per cent of posts referenced these conditions in October 2024, compared with 0.3 per cent in January 2019.
The findings, which excluded roles that typically involve working with neurodivergent people, reflect how more companies are actively seeking such candidates and adjusting their hiring processes to attract the rapidly expanding share of the population with these conditions.
Policy experts cautioned against companies paying lip service to long-standing barriers to entry without taking real action and called for the government to urgently improve education and health services.
The NHS estimates that one in seven people in the UK are neurodivergent, a term that covers conditions such as autism, ADHD and dyslexia that affect how the brain processes information.
Business leaders argue there is a strong economic case for recruiting more people from this “untapped pool of talent”, who have historically been disadvantaged by ineffective hiring and working practices.
Mayur Gondhea, founder of CubeLynx, a consultancy providing financial modelling on infrastructure and net zero projects, said half of the company’s 30 analysts were neurodivergent, giving his businesses a “competitive advantage”.
“This group is hugely talented but just cannot get a foothold and contribute to the jobs market,” he said.
Gondhea added that making adjustments to the work environment, such as providing noise-cancelling headphones and flexible working hours, were “not that expensive or difficult” to implement.
“Being inclusive makes people comfortable at work, more productive and more likely to stay with you,” he said.
Joseph Koppenhout, a financial analyst at CubeLynx who is autistic, said conventional hiring practices often inadvertently excluded neurodivergent people.
“A lot of job interviews rely on vibes and whether you click with that person, which by the nature of autism is quite challenging,” he said.
He added that autistic people were often deterred from applying if they did not meet all the job requirements, not realising that recruiters expected people to apply “optimistically”.
CubeLynx is one of the companies leading the way on improving workplace inclusivity, according to the inaugural Neurodiversity Employers index, an annual evaluation of workplace culture, recruitment strategies and employee wellbeing. Management consultancy Baringa and insurer Aviva Group were also among the top performers.
The report, which was published by charity Autistica last month, concluded more action was needed, with only 30 per cent of the 118 companies that chose to participate having a clear neuro-inclusion goal and strategy.
James Cusack, Autistica chief executive, said changes to working practices had “cascading benefits” across an organisation.
“It’s not about giving neurodivergent people preferential treatment. The current interview system isn’t very effective and it particularly disadvantages autistic people,” he added.
Dan Harris, founder of Neurodiversity in Business, an industry group, said that while large companies were starting to take note of the “vast” neurodivergent workforce, some efforts were “perfunctory” but most companies were making changes “with gusto”.
In recent years, Wall Street has lead the way in widening the goalposts. US banks such as JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo have invested heavily in global neurodiversity programmes.
“A small number of key leaders in the industry are driving forth recognition that there is incredibly untapped talent,” said Stephen DeStefani, neurodiversity lead at Wells Fargo, adding that the programme had filled “critical skills” gaps.
Bryan Gill, head of neurodiversity at JPMorgan, said hiring had become “far more competitive” and one of the “largest untapped pools” of talent is the neurodivergent community.
Despite this greater awareness, employment rates have barely shifted. Official data shows only 31 per cent of autistic adults in the UK were in work in the year ending March 2024, only a slight rise from 26 per cent in the 12 months to March 2021, the first year comparable data was collected.
Dismantling the barriers of entry would also drive economic growth, research suggests. Pro Bono Economics, a think-tank, found that doubling employment rates for autistic people by 2030 would deliver between £900mn and £1.5bn in societal benefits each year.
“There’s a real hard economic edge to this issue,” said Sir Robert Buckland, author of a government review into autism employment, which was published in February.
“This is something that Britain can lead the world on, but to genuinely close the productivity and employment gap we need more than high-level words.”
He said the government needed to “ramp up” employer support programmes such as Disability Confident, and that a “bottom-up” approach that helped businesses with free training would be more effective and quicker than new legislation.
Rising awareness of neurodiversity has created a surge in new referrals and mounting pressure on NHS services.
In England, there are as many as 1.2mn autistic people and 2.2mn with ADHD, according to the Nuffield Trust.
A record 205,000 patients are on the NHS waiting list for an autism referral, while waits for an ADHD diagnosis exceed 10 years in parts of England.
Cusack said improving economic opportunities for neurodivergent people required “urgent action” to improve special educational needs provision and reduce long waiting lists.
“If we don’t find a sustainable way forward then we will see another generation who are highly likely to experience mental health problems and find it impossible to access work,” he added.
Sir Stephen Timms, Social Security and Disability minister, said the government would “take forward” the announcements in the Get Britain Working white paper with further measures to improve employment outcomes for disabled people and benefits system reform.
“Too many people have faced unnecessary barriers to employment. This government is committed to unlocking the full potential of neurodivergent people, too much of which has been untapped for far too long,” he said.