I’m Autistic, and I Don’t Support the Microsoft Autistic Hiring Program
Why you shouldn’t, either
I recently joined a virtual job fair for autistic career seekers that included a connection to employers like Microsoft and other tech companies. I noticed one thing immediately: the recruiters were falling over themselves to recruit men (yes, only men) with technical and coding experience to get a job with their organizations. These men had other things in common, too. They were, most likely, very close to the definition of what Rosemarie Garland Thomson calls the “normate” — white, heterosexual, middle-class, educated, male, and otherwise non-disabled (no other physical, emotional, psychological, or learning disabilities.)
I spied a post by a young woman looking for a customer service, non-technical role with Microsoft. She received no answer whatsoever. A young man below her inquired about a data scientist position; a recruiter responded immediately, asking for his resume and sending him the direct contact information of a hiring manager. I then tried a chatroom for another major employer and sponsor of the career fair. Similarly, I discovered a post by a young man with an ethnic name searching for a non-technical career with the sponsor company. A recruiter responded thirty-three minutes later, telling him to send his resume into the void (a general e-mail address.) Exactly…
