2020-2025

Fueling the Next Chapter in Disability Employment

Community Agencies, Employers, News, State VR Administrators, Vocational Rehabilitation Counselors, VRTAC-QE

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The world of work is changing quickly. Advances in technology, workplace practices, legislation, and society are all reshaping employment for people with disabilities. These changes bring both new opportunities and new challenges for vocational rehabilitation (VR) professionals—who are uniquely positioned to help people achieve not just any job, but competitive, integrated, and lasting employment.

The TACQE project will be ending on September 30, 2025. Over the past five years, we’ve worked to develop and share best practices, tools, and resources so VR professionals can carry this work forward. Even after the project closes, the lessons remain:

VR professionals will continue leading the way in helping people with disabilities thrive in quality employment.
Here’s how these four forces are shaping the future of disability employment—and strategies VR professionals can use to navigate them.
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Technology: Expanding Access

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and other emerging technologies are reshaping how people prepare for, find, and keep jobs. They are also beginning to change how VR services themselves are delivered.

  • •Opportunities: These tools can increase independence, expand accessibility, and create new ways to connect people with work.
  • •Risks: They can also introduce bias in hiring and require new skills to keep up with rapid change.
Challenge: Not all organizations are ready to invest in or know how to ethically use these tools.
VR Role: Stay informed, advocate for ethical use of AI, and build digital literacy into training and support services.
Explore TACQE Resources:
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Workplace Practices: Flexibility Matters

Workplace expectations are shifting—and not always in ways that help.

  • •Remote and hybrid work raised disability employment from 20.8% in 2019 to 41.5% in 2023.
  • •Return-to-office mandates now threaten those gains, especially for workers who rely on flexibility.
Challenge: Many employers still see flexibility as optional, not essential.
VR Role: Show employers the proven benefits of inclusive flexibility and help clients negotiate for work arrangements that support long-term retention.
Explore TACQE Resources:
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Policy Shaping Opportunity

Laws and regulations continue to push VR practice forward—but also create tensions.

  • •Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) requirements: Tracking job retention, focusing on competitive integrated employment (CIE), investing in Pre-ETS for youth, building employer partnerships, using data, and addressing whole-person needs all work together to help VR professionals support quality employment. 

Challenge: Policy and system-level barriers can still limit opportunities for people with disabilities. Subminimum wage programs (14(c)) and cutbacks in federal disability-related initiatives put progress at risk.

VR Role: Use WIOA as a guiding framework while speaking up to protect CIE and policies that expand opportunity.
Explore TACQE Resources:
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Society: Shifting Expectations

Broader social attitudes and economic pressures are reshaping the employment landscape.

  • •Business strategy: More employers see that hiring people with disabilities and neurodivergent workers sparks innovation and strengthens productivity.
  • •Economic pressures: Worker shortages are creating demand for untapped talent, while public debates about workplace priorities can slow momentum.
Challenge: Progress isn’t consistent—some organizations are moving forward, while others are falling behind.
VR Role: Partner with employers who are leading the way, share success stories, and show how hiring people with disabilities benefits both business and society.
Explore TACQE Resources:
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Moving Forward: What VR Professionals Can Do

The future of disability employment will be shaped by how well we respond to these changes. VR professionals can succeed by:

  • •Embracing technology while ensuring it’s used responsibly.
  • •Championing workplace flexibility as essential to retention.
  • •Leveraging WIOA as both a roadmap and accountability tool.
  • •Engaging in advocacy to challenge policies that limit opportunity.
  • •Building partnerships with employers and communities that see full representation as a strength.
  • •Using TACQE resources to stay ahead of the curve.
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Final Thought

The forces shaping disability employment, technology, workplace practices, legislation, and society, bring both promise and pressure. With the right strategies, VR professionals can turn challenges into opportunities and ensure that people with disabilities not only get jobs, but keep them, grow in them, and thrive in workplaces that value their contributions.

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