Job searching,job duration,and job loss among young adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder

1 Introduction

As more children and adolescents are diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), a large and increasing number of youth are entering adulthood, a phase of life that, for many, focuses on employment (Roux et al., 2013; Shattuck et al., 2012). With evidence pointing to particularly poor employment outcomes for adults with ASD (Boeltzig, Timmons, & Butterworth, 2008), it is important to investigate and better understand the nature of their employment experiences in order to develop effective interventions that increase their chances for achieving their employment goals. Although there is literature on the employment rates and types of jobs that young adults with ASD typically hold, job searching and ending processes have rarely been studied for this population.

Existing literature paints a troublesome picture of unemployment and underemployment among young adults with ASD. Recent work indicates that in the 6 years after high school, youth often experienced numerous shifts between part-time employment, full-time employment, and postsecondary education (Wei, Wagner, Hudson, Yu, & Shattuck, 2014). The rates of adults with ASD having ever been employed range from 25% to 63.2% (Chen, Leader, Sung, & Leahy, 2014; Chiang, Cheung, Hickson, Xiang, & Tsai, 2012; Eaves & Ho, 2008; Hendricks, 2010; Newman et al., 2011; Roux et al., 2013). Although these studies often do not identify whether workers were employed full time or part time, Newman and colleagues (2011) found that young adults with ASD worked 24.1 hours per week on average, and 52.3% of these part-time workers desired full-time employment. Other studies also indicate that limited working hours are the norm (Chen et al., 2014; Eaves & Ho, 2008; Howlin, Goode, Hutton, & Rutter, 2004). Additionally, we know that workers with ASD are likely to be employed in low-paying jobs relative to other workers (Chiang, Cheung, Hickson, et al., 2012; Roux et al., 2013), with nationally representative data showing that they earned only about 80% of wages earned by the general population (Newman et al., 2011).

Once employed, adults with ASD often experience challenges. Features of the disorder related to social interactions, cognitive functioning, behavior management, stress, and anxiety can hinder an individual’s ability to fully participate in the workplace (Hendricks, 2010). Qualitative interviews with individuals diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome confirm adults’ perceptions that their disorder contributes to unemployment and underemployment (Hurlbutt & Chalmers, 2004). These issues may be confounded by additional factors, such as workplace attitudes toward adults with disabilities, absence of on-the-job supports, and lack of family support (Chen et al., 2014; Nesbitt, 2000; Roux et al., 2013; Shattuck et al., 2012; Vornholt, Uitdewilligen, & Nijhuis, 2013).

Despite difficulties in obtaining and maintaining employment, there is evidence that working can be beneficial. Studies show that employment, particularly outside of sheltered settings, contributes to quality of life measures and cognitive abilities (García-Villamisar & Hughes, 2007; García-Villamisar, Wehman, & Navarro, 2002). This is especially important in light of findings that individuals with ASD tend to score lower on quality of life measures than those who have other disabilities that were diagnosed in childhood (Barneveld, Swaab, Fagel, van Engeland, & de Sonneville, 2014).

In addition, we know there is a steep decline in services for youth as they leave the school system and face new challenges in finding and maintaining employment (Shattuck, Wagner, Narendorf, Sterzing, & Hensley, 2011). Studies of the Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) system provide important insights about how employment outcomes can be positively affected by supportive services. VR refers to state-run systems that provide employment services for adults with disabilities that can include placement support, vocational counseling, and on-the-job supports (PACER Center, n.d.). Research demonstrates that VR clients with ASD show a pattern of positive employment outcomes compared with VR clients with other disabilities (Burgess & Cimera, 2014; Cimera & Cowan, 2009; Lawer, Brusilovskiy, Salzer, & Mandell, 2009). Specifically, adults with ASD are more likely than those with other disabilities to be competitively employed by the end of VR services, albeit often in jobs that offer few work hours per week (Burgess & Cimera, 2014; Lawer et al., 2009). Although these positive results may be tempered by disability severity (i.e., those who were more severely disabled were less likely to be accepted into VR services), they underscore the benefits adults with ASD derive from receiving services. Recent randomized controlled trials confirm the large positive effect of intensive employment training on the likelihood of obtaining employment, earning higher wages, and having higher job retention rates among individuals with ASD (Schall et al., 2015; Wehman et al., 2012, 2014).

In summary, research indicates that employment outcomes are often poor for young adults with ASD, which may reflect, in part, a lack of understanding of their employment experiences and an absence of supports and services after high school. Yet, there also is evidence to suggest that more positive outcomes are associated with receipt of support services, such as those provided through VR. Existing literature provides general information on employment rates, work hours, wages, and types of jobs, but a fuller understanding of the job search experiences, job duration, and job loss of adults with ASD is needed as a foundation for developing outreach strategies and vocational services that have the potential to improve employment outcomes. To fill existing knowledge gaps, this study is the first to use a large, nationally representative data set to answer the following research questions:

What are the job search, job duration, and job loss experiences of young adults with ASD?

2 Method

3 Results

Table 1 shows the characteristics of the young adults with ASD and young adults the four comparison disability categories; data are weighted to represent those populations. Compared with the other four disability groups, young adults with ASD were significantly more likely to be male (84.20% vs. 55.07% to 72.86%, p < 0.001) and to have “lots of trouble” conversing or to not be able to converse at all (53.27% vs. 2.62% to 25.58%, p < 0.001). They also were significantly less likely than those in the other four groups to be concentrated in the lowest income category (19.35% vs. 24.26% to 51.31%, p < 0.001) and to be reported as having no trouble conversing (13.8% vs. 39.02% to 74.56%, p < 0.001). Young adults with ASD also were more likely to be in the highest income group (20.25% vs. 5.68% to 9.21%, p < 0.001) and to have the lowest functional cognitive skills scale score (10.94 vs. 13.86 to 14.23, p < 0.001). Significant differences between young adults with ASD and one or two comparison groups also are noted in Table 1.

Regarding who helped young adults find a job, those with ASD were quite similar to young adults with MR, but differed significantly from those with LD, SLI, or ED in several respects. They were less likely to find a job by themselves (21.70% vs 58.25% for LD, 57.43% for SLI, and 57.49% for ED, p < 0.001, for all three comparisons), more likely to find a job through employment agencies (27.55% vs. 6.05% for LD, 5.84% for SLI, and 5.89% for ED, p < 0.001,) and with support from teachers or others at their schools (19.98% vs. 3.48% for LD, 2.63% for SLI, and 2.49% for ED, p < 0.001). Young adults with ASD also differed from those with SLI, MR, or ED in having held their most recent job significantly longer (23.54 months) than their peers with SLI or ED (19.69 and 8.41 months, p < 0.001) but shorter than their peers with MR (24.92 months, p < 0.01). Out of the four job loss reasons, significantly more young adults with ASD than those in the four comparison reported they lost their job because their temporary job ended (50.19% vs. 28.97% for SLI, p < 0.01, and 17.71% to 20.84% for LD, MR, and ED, p < 0.001) and fewer reported they lost their job because they quit (20.48% vs. 57.37% for LD, 48.56% for SLI, 44.62% for MR, and 45.05% for ED, p < 0.001).

We used weighted logistic regression and multiple regression models to examine the correlates of job searching, job duration, and job loss experiences among young adults with ASD (Table 3). Those with ASD who were older were significantly less likely to be looking for a paid job at the time of survey (OR = 0.70, p < 0.05), spent less time looking for a job overall (β= –3.90, p < 0.001), and had held their current or most recent job longer (β= 1.95, p < 0.001) than younger adults with ASD. Compared with females, males with ASD had spent less time looking for a job (β= –4.44, p < 0.05) and had held their current or most recent job for shorter periods of time (β= –6.93, p < 0.001), but were more likely to have been fired from their job (OR = 16.60, p < 0.001). Compared with their White counterparts, Black young adults had held their current or most recent job for shorter periods (β= –7.15, p < 0.001) and were significantly less likely to have quit their last job (OR = 0.25, p < 0.05). Hispanic young adults with ASD also had held their current or most recent job for shorter periods (β= –12.96, p < 0.001) and had significantly higher odds of being fired from their job than their White counterparts (OR = 27.73, p < 0.05). Young adults from families in the highest income category (> $75,000 per year) spent significantly less time looking for a job than those with families in the three lower income categories (β= 14.25, p < 0.01 compared with incomes < $25,000; β= 14.47, p < 0.001 compared with the $25,001–$50,000 group; and β= 6.53, p < 0.05 compared with the $50,001 to $75,000 group). Young adults with ASD from families in the highest income category also held their current job longer than young adults from two lower income categories (β= –3.58, p < 0.01 compared with the $25,001–$50,000 group; and β= –7.45, p < 0.001 compared with the $50,001 to $75,000 group).

Young adults with ASD who had “lots of trouble” conversing were significantly less likely to be looking for a job at the time of interview (OR = 0.12, p < 0.001) and had held their current or most recent job for shorter lengths of time (β= –0.71, p < 0.05) than their peers who had no trouble conversing. Those who had “a little trouble” conversing had held their current or most recent job for shorter lengths of time (β= –3.46, p < 0.001) than their peers who had no trouble conversing. Those with higher functioning cognitive skills were significantly more likely to find a job by themselves (OR = 1.21, p < 0.01), but held their current or most recent job for a shorter period (β= 0.98, p < 0.001) than their peers with lower functional cognitive skills. Young adults with ASD who had never enrolled in a postsecondary school or education program were less likely to find a job by themselves (OR = 0.09, p < 0.001), but had held their current or most recent job longer than their peers who had attended postsecondary schools (β= 6.64, p < 0.001).

Building on previous studies that examined the employment outcomes of individuals with ASD in terms of employment rates, wages, and types of jobs (Roux et al., 2013; Shattuck et al., 2012), this study adds to the literature by exploring other important employment experiences of this population. This study portrays a somewhat mixed picture of the job search, job duration, and job loss experiences of young adults with ASD.

On one hand, relative to the young adults in the comparison disability categories, those with ASD faced more challenges in their job searching: they were less likely to seek paid employment, more likely to spend a long time searching for a job, and less likely to attempt to or to be successful at finding a job on their own. Although they were more likely than young adults in the comparison disability groups to access the networks and supports afforded by employment agencies and teachers or others at their high schools or postsecondary schools, they still were significantly less likely to ever have been employed since leaving high school (an employment rate of 63.2% vs. 76.2 to 94.9% for the comparison groups, p < 0.05 for MR, p < 0.001 for others; Newman et al., 2011).

On the other hand, once young adults with ASD were hired, they were able to hold a job for an average of almost 24 months. Not only was this a significantly longer employment period than two of the four comparison disability categories, it also was longer than for the general population, for which the median tenure of employment for young adults ages 20–24 was 16 months (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2014). This suggests that when employers hired young adults with ASD, those employees delivered value to their employers, which may be related to the relatively low rate of young adults with ASD having been laid off from their previous job (19.8% compared with12.7% to 21.1%, n.s.Newman et al., 2011). Young adults with ASD also appear to have been loyal to their employers; significantly fewer reported having quit their previous or most recent job (22.5%) than those in the comparison groups (45.3% to 56.3%. p < 0.01; Newman et al., 2011).

However, other NLTS2 analyses demonstrate that employed young adults with ASD worked significantly fewer hours per week, on average, than youth with LD, SLI, or ED (24.1 hours vs. 34.2 to 27.7, p < 0.001; Newman et al., 2011). In contrast, they were similar to young adults in the comparison groups in the types of jobs they held (e.g., office and administrative support roles, transportation and material moving, or food preparation and serving) and in the average hourly wage they were paid ($9.20 vs. $7.90 to $11.00, n.s.) (Newman et al., 2011). Also, there are several indications that young adults with ASD were relatively happy with their jobs. About 9 in 10 reported liking their current or most recent job “very much” or “fairly well, ” a similar proportion reported they were treated “pretty well” by others at work (Newman et al., 2011). About 7 in 10 young adults with ASD reported their education and training was “put to good use” at their job, they had “lots of chances” to work their way up, were “pretty well paid,” and had received a raise at their current or most recent job, again, similar reports to those from the comparison groups (Newman et al., 2011). These findings suggest that the part-time nature of the jobs held by many young adults with ASD and other characteristics of their employment were largely compatible with the skills and expectations they held.

However, not all young adults with ASD were included in this employment scenario. This study revealed demographic disproportionalities in employment experiences. We found a gender gap favoring males in the amount of time it took to obtain a job, which is consistent with the findings in the general population that women find new jobs less quickly than men (Salas-Velasco, 2007). However, our findings also suggest that females, once employed, held onto their jobs longer than males. Although general population literature suggests that male and female employees in similar circumstances have very similar turnover rates (Lewis & Park, 1989), we found that males with ASD were more likely to be fired than their female counterparts. Recognizing the gender-specific challenges face people with ASD may help VR and other employment programs appropriately allocate their resources to provide targeted and more effective supports to their clients, for instance, by providing more resources to boost job searching efforts for females and creating support groups and or workshops that encourage job stability for males.

This study also found a racial gap in job duration and job loss experiences favoring White youth. Such findings are consistent with those found in the general population (Tomaskovic-Devey, Thomas, & Johnson, 2005) and speak to the importance of recognizing the racial disparities that persist in the employment market.

Income level also appears to have played a significant role in the disproportionate length of time spent searching for a job among young adults with ASD. This confirms findings from Roux et al. (2013) that young adults from lower income households were significantly less likely to have a paid job, even after controlling for impairment severity. An association between higher family income and better post-high school employment outcomes was found by Taylor and Seltzer (2011) and Shattuck et al. (2012) which may be related to this finding. Considering that there has been an increase in income inequality and poverty rates in the U.S since the 1970s (Stanford University Center on Poverty and Inequality, 2015), future research and policies should examine new ways to promote transition to employment among lower income young adults with ASD.

Consistent with findings from other studies that suggest a relationship between post-high school outcomes and severity of ASD symptoms (Shattuck et al., 2012), this study found that youth with better conversational skills were more likely to seek employment and, once employed, hold a job longer. Results from a survey of 1,003 human resources directors ranks communication skills as one of the most important skills an employee can bring to an organization (Perron, 2011). Despite the important role effective communication plays in successful employment, studies reveal that provisions for speech/communication services after high school fall short of the identified need for them (Shattuck et al., 2011). Reducing this service gap, particularly for attributes that are valued by employers, could be an effective strategy for improving the job seeking and employment experiences of young adults with ASD.

Finally, we found that students who attended postsecondary schools were more likely to find a job themselves, but held their jobs for a shorter length of time, than those who did not attend a postsecondary school. This finding is consistent with the positive correlation between college enrollment and employment found in other studies focusing on youth in the general population (Choy, 2001), indicating the benefits of college education in generating career opportunities. Furthermore, supports and services to students with ASD to complete their PSE and obtain long-term stable jobs are needed.

Despite generating these significant findings, this study is limited in three ways. First, because students’ identification as having ASD was based on school district reports of students receiving special education services under the autism category, students with ASD who were not qualified for special education services or who were included in another primary disability category, such as mental retardation, were not included in this study. This limits the ability to generalize findings to the total population of youth with ASD. Second, NLTS2 did not have norm-referenced measures of symptoms or disability severity. The parent-reported functional skills and conversation ability provided some measure of disability severity with high face validity, but may be subject to bias and cannot be equated with the results of formal evaluations conducted by professionals. Third, there is no employer confirmation of the reason for job loss. Future research should validate the results of this study using other data sources, e.g. interview or survey data from employers.

In sum, the findings from this study expand our understanding of the employment experiences of young adults with ASD, including affirming that they can be valuable assets to the workforce once employed. However, the study also points to the challenges faced by young adults with ASD as they seek employment. The relatively low percentage who seek employment; the long period of time spent searching for a job; the low percentage who find a job on their own; and their high rate of working in short-term, high-turnover, temporary jobs point to the need to focus the job search process on obtaining longer-term employment. These results suggest that the transition activities undertaken on behalf of these youth at the “hand-off” from high school to the adult world need to be strengthened in order to more effectively connect them with employment. Also, further research is needed to identify vocational interventions that can effectively increase the employment of this population (Taylor et al., 2012). Future studies in the area of ASD and employment should continue to bridge the gap between research and practice by informing stakeholders – such as parents, high school teachers and administrators, postsecondary educational environments, and VR services staff – of identified best practices that support the employment opportunities and experiences for young adults with ASD.

Conflict of interest

None to report.