Employers' attitudes toward workers with disabilities in Japan

Face-to-face structured interviews were conducted with 119 employers in private companies and public agencies in Japan to assess employers' attitudes toward workers with disabilities by the Scale of Attitudes toward Workers with Disabilities. The results indicated that Japanese employers had favorable attitudes toward the employment of persons with disabilities in general. Japanese employers also had three distinctive characteristics: (a) they think it more difficult and expensive to hire persons with disabilities; (b) they think that working is not good for persons with severe disabilities; and (c) they do not respect the economic effects of the employment of persons with disabilities. It was also found that current employment of persons with disabilities has positive effects on the general attitudes of the employers.