Microsoft to Hire More Individuals with Autism

Microsoft's latest move must have had diversity advocates applauding, as the company has apparently seen the unique value of the skill sets that persons with autism have.

In what appears to be a nod to World Autism Awareness Day, which was on April 2, the tech firm said it will hire more people with autism.

"We have been committed to enabling people with disabilities to be successful for a long time," said Microsoft's corporate VP Mary Ellen Smith, who has a 19-year-old son diagnosed as having autism since he was 4 years old. "We also work with Supported Employment and vendor partners to hire people for roles in event services, transportation, and food services."

"In these roles, we see only 1 percent attrition level. Today, people can consider a wide range of opportunities in supported employment with our vendor partners at Microsoft," she also said in a statement posted on Microsoft's official blog.

"This week, we announced another exciting effort, a new pilot program with Specialisterne, focused on hiring people with autism for full-time, Redmond-based Microsoft positions," she went on to say. "People with autism bring strengths that we need at Microsoft, each individual is different, some have amazing ability to retain information, think at a level of detail and depth or excel in math or code. It's a talent pool that we want to continue to bring to Microsoft!"

With that being said, will the company be releasing innovative, forward-thinking technology in the future on the strength of its unique staff?

The Huffington Post noted that Specialisterne had worked with SAP last year on a similar initiative, which turned out to be successful in the German software firm's India, Germany, and Ireland offices.

Microsoft's conscious effort to cater to individuals with autism goes back in 1999, which was when "Microsoft started getting actively involved in the nation's budding autism epidemic," as noted by Autism Speaks.

After a number of employees having children with autism approached the management about having a form of therapy included in their health insurance coverage, the company studied the proposition and ultimately managed to add it to its self-funded health benefits plan. This move turned to be a revolutionary one as it encouraged other major employers in the U.S. to provide a similar arrangement for their own employees.

With the company's recent announcement of its openness to hiring people with autism, will other major companies also follow suit?

That remains to be seen in the next few months.

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