Breaking Down Barriers: SUPPORT Project Launches Survey in Step Towards Improving Employment for People with Disabilities

Breaking Down Barriers: SUPPORT Project Launches Survey in Step Towards Improving Employment for People with Disabilities

For most of us, work is more than a paycheck (though important too!). It’s a source of independence, structure, and purpose, but the process of searching for a job is anything but that. Thinking back to our own experiences, it’s safe to say that it is a rigorous process of CVs, cover letters, interviews and trying to ‘outshine’ the competition. But for many people with disabilities, the hurdles and systematic barriers are even greater, as they try to navigate a system that wasn’t built with them in mind. Statistics show that across Europe, they experience unemployment periods that are 40–50% longer than those of non-disabled individuals, alongside lower overall employment rates than those of the general population.

The talent is there, but too often, the opportunities are not. The SUPPORT project was created to change that story.

Bringing together organisations from Austria, Belgium, Spain, Greece, Croatia, Italy, Norway, and Romania, project partners are working to promote a proven approach – Supported Employment (SE) – to more regions and more people. Instead of long pre-employment courses, SE starts with a real job and provides the employee with tailored coaching, employer support, and guidance to help them stay and thrive in the workplace. Countries where these practices already exist show what’s possible when support is timely, personal, and practical.

Launch of Survey: Understanding What Works

Scaling these solutions across Europe requires an understanding of what works, where gaps remain, and how experiences differ from place to place. That’s why SUPPORT is launching a survey inviting the people who know supported employment best – jobseekers with disabilities, employers, job coaches, service providers, and public agencies – to share their perspectives.

The survey takes around 20–30 minutes, but the insights will shape much more: evidence-based strategies, better support tools, and a stronger framework for measuring the quality of Supported Employment services. Most importantly, the collected data will ensure that the next generation of employment policies is grounded in the reality of those who live it every day.

The survey is aimed towards employers, jobseekers/supported employees with a disability, and service providers in Austria, Belgium, Spain, Greece, Croatia, Italy, Norway and Romania, and is available in all the respective national languages. Collected data is a key step towards transforming employment opportunities for thousands of people across Europe.