Employing Differently Abled Shop-Floor Employees in Confectionery Industry in Sri Lanka: An Ethnographic Narrative

Abstract

In the contemporary workplace, discrimination is avoided while diversity is promoted. Up to recent, past gender, race, and age were the topics taken into discussion. But recently a growing attention is visible in the corporate sector for providing employment opportunities for the differently-abled candidates to give equal opportunities to them as well. It is even against the law to discriminate against anyone in the workplace, because they have, or are assumed to have, a disability. Hence, it is essential to investigate on how the differently-abled employees are managed in the complex, turbulent corporate environment. In this research, in a journey of ethnographic narrative, I set out to narrate the stories of the differently-abled shop-floor employees in the confectionery industry, as their stories are within the context of Sri Lanka. As a good organizational ethnography can reveal and explore the intricacies, challenges, tensions, and choices of life in organizations, I employ organizational ethnography as the prime methodological approach of this study. Exploring and analyzing the daily lives of differently-abled shop-floor employees— while being part of their work life—paved the path to realize that employees with disabilities are capable of being an “employee” which the society expects. Finally, it could be concluded that unlike in managing the people without disabilities, it should be more towards sensitivity, which was observed and experienced throughout the research study.