auticon, the international social enterprise and IT Consultancy which has a base in Edinburgh, released its latest Impact Report in April to mark Autism Acceptance Month.
The report details the company’s success in becoming the world’s largest autistic-majority employer, a leading source for autistic technology talent and neuroinclusion services, and one of the largest social enterprises in the world.
Auticon’s mission is to address the inequalities in employment for neurodivergent adults and showcase the strengths of neurodiversity in society.
It is estimated that between 15-20% of the global population are neurodivergent and 2% are estimated to be autistic. Despite many autistic people being talented, qualified, and keen to work, the latest ONS data shows that only 29% of autistic people in the UK are in employment.
Within the autistic workforce, a vast majority are under-employed, working in jobs that they are over-qualified or over-skilled for. This is what auticon set out to change – initially to remove barriers to employment for autistic people, and now holistically supporting organisations to be better at attracting, recruiting, supporting and retaining autistic and other neurodivergent talent by becoming neuroinclusive.
Auticon employ autistic people on permanent contracts as IT & Data Consultants. The clients who contract these auticon consultants into their teams on temporary basis experience first-hand the strengths of their new autistic colleague, whilst being supported with training from auticon to ensure autism is accepted, adjustments are understood and the whole team thrives.
auticon’s 2023 impact report shows that an amazing 96% of clients say auticon consultants made valuable contributions to their projects, including greater accuracy, increased efficiency, an innovative approach and alternative perspective. auticon’s aim is for more organisations to tap into this pool of talent so they can also experience these benefits.
For organisations who don’t have a need, or capacity, to hire contractors with IT and data skills, auticon’s neuroinclusion services can still help them to be more neuroinclusive. The report shows that auticon delivered an impressive 274 neurodiversity awareness sessions during 2023, which is a big part of how they scale their impact, and they want to do more during 2024. From these awareness sessions to e-learning modules, to full-scale neuroinclusion maturity assessments and tailored training, auticon works with organisations in a way that will benefit them.
You can read more about auticon in their 2023 Scaling Our Impact report here.
To find out more about working with auticon in Scotland – either to hire an autistic Consultant or to discuss training options – please contact Emma Walker, Regional Director Scotland: Emma.Walker@auticon.co.uk or 07494 178127