Job Carving

Continuing my theme from 2022 where I proposed an idea to promote a more inclusive Queensland, the concept of seeking innovative ways to foster diversity and inclusivity, while addressing the challenges posed by a declining number of people in unemployment, is my focus in 2023.

A promising solution known as “job carving” can create more employment opportunities and capitalise on a largely untapped portion of the job market often not even captured in unemployment figures.  Tailoring parts of roles to accommodate individuals with disabilities or conditions which affect their capacity to work in a full-time capacity can not only boost organisational commitments to diversity but also tap into a valuable talent pool, ensuring that no one is left behind in the pursuit of meaningful employment.

I suspect there are many business leaders and human resource professionals who are reluctant to put to the employment market only parts of roles which may seem unattractive at first glance. Certainly, businesses who I have spoken to over the years are surprised at what meaning and purpose my son, now 20 with an intellectual impairment and no speech, would obtain from regular (and at times supported) paid employment structured around tasks he could manage which they may have considered too limited. Indeed, I am certain any workforce he participated in would be the major beneficiary, in not only measured output, but in what such diversity and broadened thinking he, and others like him, would bring to employees in any organisation.

My challenge to organisations, including my own, is to consider the competition for talent an opportunity to rethink some of the tasks that can be shaped and adapted to create positions that can be fulfilled by individuals playing to their strengths and uniqueness. With some job-task scaffolding and organisational support in place, I can attest to the fact that as little as even two, short shifts a week, can make a world of difference.

That said, we can be well intentioned and get it very wrong. Start with a partner agency with some potential ‘carvees’, align your efforts to their, and your, needs - and start with one.

With a strategic and deliberate, not accidental, approach to job carving in our workplaces, Queensland has an opportunity to make our state the nation’s leader in inclusiveness so that the golden runway to 2032 is a shared one.