Newly established in Canada, the Danish company Specialisterne intends to create 10,000 jobs for autistic Canadians. The idea is to enhance the value of their unique skills on the labour market.
This is the most recent country chosen by Specialisterne to broaden the scope of its services to autistic people. With a head office in Toronto and offices in Vancouver and soon in Quebec, the Danish company hopes to interest Canadian employers to hire a person with this mental health problem. Specialisterne hopes to steadily increase partnerships with the government and companies so autistic workers can hold jobs suited to their specific skills. By 2020, 10,000 new hires are expected in Canada and a million around the world.
Specialising in IT consulting
Created by Thorkil Sonne, the Danish organization today operates in 12 countries and provides IT consulting services with the difference that they mainly work with autistic consultants. Specialisterne includes among its partners major groups such as Microsoft, Oracle and SAP. It is an indication that companies are interested and integration of autistic workers brings a real advantage. For its founder, these people still represent an underutilized labour pool whose skills are nonetheless remarkable: an ability to systematize, propensity for repetitive routines… An undeniable advantage when it’s a question of processing or transferring databases or performing software testing, for example.
Developing awareness
Specialisterne’s work doesn’t stop there, since the organization also helps companies deal with the specifics related to hiring an autistic person. This requires training and also includes raising awareness with recruiters that autistic people can bring real added value, especially in the fields of the sciences, mathematics, engineering and technologies.