Over 1.3 billion people are affected by a disability, which the United Nations defines as “ those who have long-term physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairments which in interaction with various barriers may hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others ”, with about 80% of those individuals of working age. Additionally, the acknowledgement of neurodiversity in the workplace demands inclusion. Utilizing a huge dataset from Finland, a country with a high rate of employment for disabled people, Prof. Dr. Shiho Futagami (YOKOHAMA National University) et al. are paving the way to provide more job opportunities and inclusion for people with disabilities.
Prof. Dr. Shiho Futagami et al. published their research results ‘Work ability, inclusion, and human resource development of disabled people’ in Human Resource Development International (Q1: CiteScore Best Quartile, high impact: 4.4 (2024) 5 year IF）which is a globally prestigious international journal in the field of human resource development in February 27, 2026. (DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13678868.2026.2622080 )
The respondents for the analysis are 6,214 people, with 52.4% males and 47.6% females. Of these respondents, 57.7% are under 40, with the remainder over 40. Nearly a third of these respondents have received only a basic education while the rest have some degree of secondary education. 65.5% of respondents report having one or more prolonged (longer than six months) illnesses, physical or psychological.
This study consists of eight hypotheses aimed to clarify the link between the work ability, inclusion and human resource development (HRD) of disabled people. For reference, “work ability” is defined as “how good a worker is at present and will be in the near future, and how they are able to do their work with respect to their work demands, and the health and mental resources”.
The hypotheses include (1) the educational background of disabled people determines their work ability, as well as (2) the physical functioning, (3) work ability of disabled people is improved by HRD, (4) the perception of inclusion by disabled people is lower compared to non-disabled people, (5) the inclusion of disabled people leads to their improved work ability, (6) the mental well-being of disable people leads to their improved work ability, (7) the work ability of disabled people is improved by upgrading their skills and finally, (8) the improved work ability of disabled people leads to their improved employability.
The research supports all hypotheses except two: the potential link between the educational background of the disabled people and work ability (hypothesis one) and the mental well-being of disabled people leading to their improved work ability (hypothesis six). The supporting hypotheses emphasize the importance of inclusion and an interdisciplinary approach to create an HRD framework to improve the work ability of disabled people.
“Our study suggests that the work ability, the inclusion perceived by disabled people themselves and human resource development (HRD) are three important elements for promoting disability inclusion,” said professor and researcher Shiho Futagami.
The resulting confluence of work ability, inclusion and an HRD framework provides a basis to reduce not only the barriers of entry into the workplace, but barriers that might have previously prevented disabled individuals from continued success in a job or career.
Prof. Dr. Shiho Futagami et al. wish to further investigate the dynamic interaction between these three elements in addition to analyzing different kinds of HRD variables that can affect work ability. Since this study focuses more on the discussion of these dynamics and HRD, actual practices using these frameworks will need to be implemented.
Shiho Futagami of the Graduate School of International Social Sciences at YOKOHAMA National University, Erja Kettunen of the Turku School of Economics at the University of Turku and Jacques Jaussaud of the Department of Management Sciences at the University of Pau contributed to this research.
The Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, KAKENHI and the Scandinavia-Japan Sasakawa Foundation made this research possible.
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Human Resource Development International
Work ability, inclusion, and human resource development of disabled people
27-Feb-2026