Collaboration between government and social organizations in supporting hard‐to‐employ people with disabilities in China: A case study

Individuals with intellectual, mental, and severe physical disabilities face significant discrimination and challenges in accessing the mainstream labor market. The China Disabled Persons' Federation (DPF) has offered alternative employment opportunities for these hard‐to‐employ people with disabilities (PWDs) by collaborating with social organizations. This study, grounded in resource dependence theory and utilizing a case study approach, investigates the resource exchange and dependence between local DPFs and disability service organizations, as well as the emerging forms of employment and subjective experiences of hard‐to‐employ PWDs. The findings reveal that an interdependent relationship has been emerging between DPFs and disability organizations. Disability organizations have maintained autonomy and played a pivotal role in introducing and testing innovative employment models, mainly Work Integration Social Enterprise (WISE) projects. Most PWDs showed a positive or neutral attitude, but some expressed dissatisfaction regarding their workload and income. However, due to resource limitations and the underwhelming economic performance of employment projects, disability organizations have often prioritized upward accountability to DPFs by focusing on job creation metrics, while paying insufficient attention to the experiences and needs of hard‐to‐employ PWDs. Future policy should provide disability organizations with a more supportive environment to develop WISE projects, and encourage them to establish institutionalized mechanisms for the participation of hard‐to‐employ PWDs in the design, implementation and evaluation of employment services.