Quotas for the humiliation of people with disabilities II

Surprise? Or not? The state has introduced quotas for hiring people with disabilities. Now we wait to see what happens.

There will definitely be market distortions. Read my opinion on this in my previous article regarding quotas for people with disabilities.

Here I will touch on other aspects of the topic that I have been thinking about in light of the latest news surrounding the vote on the measure.

What type of employees can people with disabilities be?

In Bulgaria, we seem to be champions at putting the cart before the horse. And at showing off afterwards.

In practice, neither the state, nor business, nor society is adequate in its attitude towards people with disabilities. And there is indeed a problem with employment.

However, there is also a problem with the accessible environment, with the care of assistants, with the culture of Bulgarians without disabilities. In fact, the culture is much more severely damaged than the people who everyone is used to calling people with disabilities are damaged.

That's why it's difficult to integrate in Bulgaria if you're a person with a disability. And it's difficult mostly because you have to show a strong character.

Because in reality, to educate yourself, to develop your personality, to become a specialist, you need to break down a lot of walls.

And I think the number of people with disabilities who break down enough walls is still relatively small. And it is precisely such employees with disabilities that companies will need in order to fill their quota effectively.

This means high labor costs.

It is typical for politicians that they do not think about the economy. And among the simplest economic mechanisms is that when demand increases, the price also increases if supply does not compensate.

And because of the situation with people with disabilities in Bulgaria, I think, I guess, we are in this scenario. Let's see...

It is logical for companies to target educated and experienced people with disabilities. And imagine this is a group, part of the group of people with disabilities, which is part of all people on the labor market. Because in reality, a large part of people with disabilities are not particularly educated. Nor do they have particular experience.

And what happens?

Increased demand + low supply = raise your price, able-bodied people with disabilities.

Specifically for me, for example, I don't think there are many disabled copywriters in Bulgaria. This might mean that we will be able to squeeze more money out of employers.

Which would be completely adequate behavior on our part. What is inadequate is that this situation was artificially caused by state regulation.

The general conclusion is that because of the problems in Bulgaria, there are few more capable people with disabilities. And the quotas put companies in a complicated situation. Because they are a crude solution in a complex context.

What type of companies are more likely to employ people with disabilities with professional potential?

In fact, the scenario of squeezing more money out of employers is plausible, but only just. Unlikely. It really makes sense that the companies where people with disabilities would truly thrive are technology companies in general.

That is, those who would benefit most from an employee with a disability. Why?

Because usually because of the disability, and also because of the environment in Bulgaria, awake people with disabilities turn to intellectual professions - marketing, copywriting, online advertising, programming, design, psychology, economics, sociology...

Thus, the companies that have the greatest chance of filling the quotas for people with disabilities with truly productive personnel are mostly more specialized in the digital sphere - marketing agencies, mobile operators, digital agencies, IT companies...

However, this requires recruiting primarily niche staff: people with disabilities who have a narrow professional profile – marketing, online communications, media, copywriting, analytics.

You realize that people with disabilities who are both educated and possess sufficient similar specialized knowledge and skills are relatively few, right?

Although intellectual professions are logical for people with physical disabilities, the oppressive environment in Bulgaria actually prevents the latter from entering them. Even if you only have a physical disability, the system in Bulgaria tries to crush you on a psychological level as well. They put you in institutions, they prevent you from going out, in many cases in institutions for people with disabilities you are forced to share space with people with mental disabilities.

That's why the environment in Bulgaria actually makes it so that there are relatively few true specialists with disabilities. And niche specialists are even fewer.

In other words, the problem is that due to the situation in Bulgaria, there are few qualified and adequate people with disabilities, and there are even fewer more specialized personnel among them.

Which, with artificially increased demand beyond the quotas, raises their price. And what happens? That in order to fill their quotas, many companies will have to either hire a narrow and unjustifiably more expensive specialist, or simply hire some person with a disability to "do something there." It will still be expensive - especially for more narrowly specialized technology companies, which are generally the logical places for people with disabilities to find employment.

Does this sound like good news to you? Educated people with disabilities are getting a big chance?

Yes, it's nice at first glance that I can tell employers: Look, you have to fill your quota anyway, you need someone with more specialized skills anyway, sneeze and that's it.

Maybe I'm opening the door to speculation? It's logical for qualified and specialized experts with disabilities to speculate on the situation, asking for more money.

This distorts the market, but it sounds good for people with disabilities, right?

Yes, but no. Every distortion in the market has an answer. This will be very expensive for the specialized business. Because if a larger part of the quota, due to the nature of the business, has to be filled with more specialized, highly qualified and expensive personnel, this will be a serious expense.

A cost that will have to be avoided.

Companies would pay fines and look for other ways to circumvent the cost.

For example, by fabricating a disability. It is typical of ill-conceived state regulations that they often cause consequences that are most unexpected for politicians.

But economic logic is unforgiving - and neither are politicians, if they are willing to comply with it.

Furthermore, it is not at all certain that niche specialists among employees with disabilities will be good enough specialists. Nor that they will be good at speculating and taking advantage of the situation.

In a free market, things somehow adjust according to the levels of need on the one hand and ability on the other. However, because of quotas, companies will have to hire specialists with disabilities who are not known to be good enough for the specific job.

There will probably be cases of successfully hiring people with disabilities in addition to the quotas that politicians will brag about. There will be "teasing" reports like:

"And they got hired and worked happily"

However, due to the artificial nature of the quotas, there will also be a lot of distortions. Made-up disabilities, speculation with prices (and by people with disabilities as well) and contracts, strange working conditions, misunderstandings at the workplace, complicated relationships with bosses and colleagues...

By the way, the latter worries me. It's not good to generalize, but we know: a large part of Bulgarians have an inadequate attitude towards people with disabilities.

And coercion to hire can cause bad situations. I have been interviewed by clearly inadequate employers, with the stupid attitudes of "let's help the person with a disability" and "let's interview him to create the illusion that he is on the labor market, when it is clear that we will not hire this disabled person."

I am also concerned about inventing specific clauses in employment contracts that would hurt /and humiliate/ people with disabilities, as a countermeasure to quotas.

In addition, the possibility of finding a job “in another way” can encourage people to invent a disability. It is clear that people with disabilities most often mean people with a diagnosis directly related to an obvious physical defect. However, I am not convinced that the regulatory framework can sufficiently clarify the definition. And right now there are people who practically do not have a disability that interferes with their daily lives, but have some kind of… illness, some disease that they use to easily enter some column of some state measure promising them some good.

The system is not efficient at all, and the quotas are a pretty strong incentive to come up with ways to cheat or take advantage of it.

It is also clear that the official mission of the state with the introduction of quotas for people with disabilities is aimed precisely against these notorious inadequacies and rudeness of employers towards people with disabilities. It is a type of "fighting market failures" all the same. However, it is characteristic of market failures that, if market solutions are not found, unexpected problems often follow.

I'm not convinced that being forcibly employed by inadequate employers for truly capable people with disabilities will be a satisfying experience.

But the employers are also to blame for the ridiculous situation... 

Why are there so many inadequate Bulgarian employers?

I am a libertarian, but that does not mean at all that my reproaches for every scumbag in society will always and solely be directed at the state.

In my previous article on quotas for people with disabilities, I outlined the reasons why, in my opinion, this regulation will distort the labor market and cause damage.

Here I will also emphasize the market failure in relation to the employment of people with disabilities.

Despite the fact that there are companies like Telenor and Coca Cola that hire people with disabilities, the majority of Bulgarian employers still shy away from the topic.

I remember after one edition of Telenor's Open Mind program, that other Bulgarian companies refused the mobile operator to consider hiring some of the participants with disabilities. The case is that Telenor's program is 2 years and after it, few people with disabilities continue in a permanent position. And Telenor committed to making contact with other companies for possible hiring of the program graduates for whom there are no places.

And many Bulgarian employers have refused!

And let's be direct: many Bulgarians generally have a negative attitude towards people with disabilities, born and maintained by stereotypes, prejudices and complexes.

Indeed, not hiring people with disabilities because they are disabled is a market failure. It artificially causes a reduction in labor supply, the presence of a serious unused human resource, and the diversion of funds from investments in development to current care-related costs.

A market failure caused largely by non-economic problems.

That's why I tend to believe that business in Bulgaria actually bears a large part of the responsibility for even discussing a measure like quotas for people with disabilities in companies!

My friends with disabilities and I have been to interviews at various Bulgarian companies and we know that the attitude is often… ridiculous. They often tell us empty talk just to get through the interview or at the very least offer us some ridiculous money for qualified work. They often assume that since we are disabled, we would accept “whatever they give us for some money because we don’t have much choice.”

That is, the price and type of products from the work of a person with a disability are artificially worsened only because of the prejudices of employers.

And much more often, employers do not make offers to a person with a disability at all, which artificially reduces the supply – artificially excluding people with disabilities from it – and again distorts the market. It distorts it for non-economic reasons.

There is a market failure and Bulgarian employers are indeed responsible for the employment problems of people with disabilities.

But I am not convinced that aggressive state policies are a sustainable solution.

The most constructive thing would be to find a sustainable market solution to this market failure. However, finding this solution is a long process, as it involves a cultural change.

So Bulgarians, Bulgarian employers, if you actually change your culture and clean up the market failure surrounding people with disabilities, your appeals for state non-interference in the labor market through quotas would be more sustainable. Both morally and economically.

Because ultimately, it's impudent to shy away from the segment of people with disabilities, to want fewer taxes and regulations, and to expect the state to take care of them and not bother you.

Dear Bulgarian businessmen, let us recall a basic postulate in business:

Everything is a deal!