Mae JOBSENSE wedi cael ei ariannu gan  Gronfa Gymdeithasol Ewrop

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WHAT IS JOBSENSE?

Jobsense uses Specialist Employment Advisers to support people with a sensory loss, through a range of interventions tailored to the needs and circumstances of the individual to achieve the following outcomes: 

Confidence building and vocational skills, such as: 

Knowledge, skills and work behaviours 
Skills relating to developing applications for work 
Problem solving, communicating and relationship management 
Emotional resilience and confidence 
Manage money more carefully 

Practical help, such as: 

transport challenges 
Identifying realistic and appropriate options for work 
Information on vacancies in association with Job Centre Plus et al 
Referrals to training programmes to learn additional skills, including accredited training and qualifications relevant to the participant’s journey towards work 
Referral to further and higher education programs 
Awareness of technology that can support sensory loss in the workplace 
Providing access to work experience, work placements, volunteering opportunities and job tasters through a wide range of employers 

Specific outcomes for each participant exiting the programme could be: 

Supporting them into employment 
Completing work experience placement or volunteering opportunity 
Gaining a qualification or work relevant certification 
Or engaging in job search. 

The JobSense project also employs specialist Employer Engagement Coordinators to liaise with businesses across Wales to identify and facilitate suitable vacancies. We hope they will leave a legacy of employers better informed on the needs and supportType

​WHY IS THERE A NEED FOR JOBSENSE?

​People with a sensory loss face significant barriers to work. For example, a recent survey of employers revealed that 75% of respondents would sooner employ an ex-convict than a person with vision loss. 

A person who is Deaf or has hearing loss is FOUR TIMES more likely to be out of work than a hearing person. And yet people with a hearing loss or who are deaf have the same aspirations and work ethic as someone who is hearing. 

People registered as blind or partially sighted are nearly FIVE TIMES more likely to be unemployed for five years or more than the general population. 

A person who is profoundly Deaf may use BSL (British Sign Language) as their first language and may be unable to read or write fluently in English, but very few employers publish their vacancies in a subtitled video, or in BSL. 

Most vacancies require applicants to complete an online application form and submit a written CV but many people with a visual impairment will be digitally excluded because of poor accessibility features, caused by a lack of sensory loss awareness amongst those designing online applications. 

Perhaps the greatest barrier faced by people with a sensory loss is mistaken and out-of-date employer attitudes. People with a sensory loss are NOT automatically a “health and safety risk” or an additional cost. It may be that a typical modification in the workplace to accommodate someone with a sight loss is as simple as “don’t leave bags in the pathway; don’t leave mugs near the edge of your table”; a person with a hearing loss may need only an adapted telephone and colleagues who are “deaf aware” to be completely effective and safe in the workplace.