The Google manager is committed to breaking down barriers and integrating more disabled people into working life.
(Photo: Google)
Dusseldorf Patrick Schilling is happy that his employer is setting an example for inclusion that is visible to all: For International Day of People with Disabilities on December 3, Google is making some of its offices like the one in Munich shine purple. The purple light signals internationally: “We welcome people with disabilities.”
Schilling, 27, was born with shortened arms and legs. He needs a wheelchair for longer distances. “It is important that large companies help to create awareness that diversity also means the integration of the physically or mentally handicapped in professional life,” he says. As a “Strategic Deal Manager” at Google, the young manager supports major customers such as Deutsche Bank and T-Systems in their digital transformation.
The World Bank estimates that more than a billion people worldwide – around 15 percent of the total population – live with a disability. As workers, they can alleviate the skills shortage and contribute to the organizational diversity that enables better decision-making and more innovation.
Especially in Germany, where from 2026 around 130,000 people of working age will be missing every year because more retire than new ones, they are an important pool of workers. Which, however, is often overlooked.
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Almost every ninth person with a disability is unemployed
Of the approximately 1.45 million people with a disability who are available on the labor market, 166,500 are currently unemployed – almost one in nine. This is shown by the current inclusion barometer work by Aktion Mensch and the Handelsblatt Research Institute (HRI).
So far, only a few employers in Germany consciously rely on people with disabilities as an answer to the shortage of skilled workers. The software manufacturer SAP is one of the positive examples.
The Dax group is known for targeting autistic people who are usually tech-savvy and detail-oriented. But the car manufacturer Audi is also openly trying to achieve more diversity in the workforce – and consciously integrating people with disabilities.
With the purple lighting, employer signals to Google: “People with disabilities are welcome.”
(Photo: Google)
Google also wants to further increase the potential in Germany. When asked, the search engine operator does not quantify how many people with disabilities work at its German locations in Munich, Hamburg, Berlin and Frankfurt.
With a virtual meeting on the International Day of People with Disabilities, the tech group deliberately wants to attract young talents from Europe, the Middle East and Africa as new employees and show them how it removes barriers. Especially in the area of software development and sales, Google is currently looking for talent.
Specific Google product developments by people with disabilities
Schilling grew up in tranquil Tuttlingen on Lake Constance and came to Google three and a half years ago. After completing his German-American double degree in international management and business administration, he applied for a sales agency that Google relocated to Dublin especially for him. Because the wheelchair user could cope better there than at the originally planned site in Wroclaw, Poland.
The 27-year-old now works in Zurich and campaigns for more inclusion both internally and externally as an ambassador. A first inspection with the building manager showed where automated doors had to be installed for him in the Swiss branch and where coffee cups should be set up so that he could also easily reach them. Voice control for software is common practice in the conference rooms at Google.
A colleague from New York, who is also in a wheelchair, is working on the constant expansion of Google Maps in order to show disabled people where the best access points can be found, for example in train stations and subway stations. This extension is also useful for parents with strollers, seniors with walkers or cyclists.
Google is still one of the pioneers with such approaches. That much is clear. However, Schilling is not satisfied: “True diversity is only achieved when CEOs with disabilities have become a matter of course.”
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