HRM Critical Thinking

Disabled people are marginalized in the job market, and as a result, the rate of unemployment is significantly high among this group. In the last decade, several companies have seen the need to integrate people with disabilities into their workforce. This paper will provide a summary of the case of Walgreen and analyze the benefits it accrues from employing people with disabilities.

Case Summary

In 2007, Walgreens opened a store in South Carolina, where 50 percent of its 400 employees had physical or cognitive disabilities. In 2008, it opened a store in Windsor, Connecticut where it specifically prioritizes the employment of people living with disabilities; in this store, process efficiency has increased by 20 percent. The company to have a third of its workforce as people with disabilities. Following the success of Walgreens in hiring people with disabilities, several companies followed suit, including; Proctor & Gamble, Best Buy, and Lowe among others. Despite the apparent benefits of employing workers with disabilities, several companies are still hesitant to commit to investing and supporting the development of this group of people (Gomez-Mejia, 2016). In essence, hiring people with disabilities accrues various benefits to the organization and also facilitates the reduction of the rate of unemployment among this group.