Does voluntarism work for the workplace inclusion of individuals with disabilities in a country with limited equality structures?

Abstract

Purpose: The study explores measures designed explicitly to manage people with disabilities in a context where diversity interventions are incorporated voluntarily. Furthermore, it examines global organizations’ approaches to marginalized groups, such as people with disabilities, in a context where there is an explicit lack of state regulation on diversity measures.

Design/methodology/approach: An abductive approach was adopted for the exploratory nature, which sought to understand how global organizations in a developing country utilize diversity management mechanisms to manage people with disabilities.

Findings: The findings reveal that human resources departments of international organizations operating in a neoliberal environment demonstrate two distinct perspectives for individuals with disabilities: (i) inclusiveness due to legal pressures and (ii) social exclusion.

Originality/value: We explored global organizations’ approaches to marginalized groups, such as people with disabilities, in the context of an explicit lack of state regulation on diversity measures and showed that the absence of coercive regulation leads to voluntary actions with adverse consequences. The paper expands theories that critique the inclusion of individuals with disabilities in untamed neoliberal contexts and explains how the responsibilization of institutional actors could enhance what is practical and possible for the workplace inclusion of individuals with disabilities. Without such institutional responsibilization, our findings reveal that disability inclusion is left to the limited prospects of the market rationales to the extent of bottom-line utility.