EMPLOYER PERCEPTIONS OF THE BENEFITS AND CONCERNS OF SUPPORTED EMPLOYMENT

The purpose of this investigation was to compare the perceptions of em ployers who had not hired supported employees to those of employers wh o had hired. This question was investigated so that supported employme nt professionals could anticipate employer concerns, as expressed by t he not-hired group, and counter those objections in the job developmen t process by using the information gained from employers satisfied wit h their supported employment experience. Employers in four types of bu sinesses: banks, credit unions, grocery stores, and retail stores were surveyed. Large, medium, and small sized businesses were represented, as were male and female respondents. Findings indicated significantly more positive perceptions of supported employment by employers who ha d hired supported employees in comparison to those who had not. Large business respondents held significantly more positive perceptions than employers in small businesses. There were no significant interactions among business type, hiring status, business size or respondent gende r. Further, no significant differences were detected on the basis of t ype of businesses or respondent gender. Employee dedication was found to be the highest ranked benefit of supported employment across partic ipants as a whole, as well as across respondent groups. Extra training /supervision demands and a lack of necessary work skills were cited ac ross all respondent groups as the primary concerns about supported emp loyment. The implications of these findings for job development and su pported employment practice are presented Future research needs also a re discussed.