At Blind Ambition Recruitment, our mission is simple: to connect blind and partially sighted people with employers who recognise talent, not barriers. Yet that mission is increasingly being undermined by growing instability within the Access to Work scheme — a system that is fundamental to making inclusive recruitment viable in practice, not just in principle.
Across the UK, blind and partially sighted jobseekers and professionals are telling us the same thing: roles are available, employers are willing — but Access to Work support is no longer reliable enough to make employment sustainable.
Recruitment does not end at the job offer
Inclusive recruitment is not just about advertising accessible roles or running fair interviews. For blind and partially sighted people, it depends on whether the practical support required to do the job is in place on time and at the correct level.
Access to Work funding typically covers:
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Support workers
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Travel in work
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Assistive technology and software
When that support is delayed, reduced, or reassessed without clear justification, recruitment outcomes collapse — sometimes before a new starter has even reached their first day.
A national issue now in the open
This is no longer a hidden problem. A recent article published by Yahoo! News UK has highlighted serious concerns around Access to Work, including delayed payments, disrupted awards, and disabled people being forced to step back from jobs they were fully capable of doing.
For employers using Blind Ambition Recruitment, this coverage provides important reassurance: the barriers are systemic, not caused by individual candidates or businesses “getting it wrong”.
Why this matters to employers
Employers often tell us they want to recruit blind and partially sighted people but fear:
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Unexpected costs
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Administrative complexity
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Support suddenly being withdrawn
The reality is that many of these risks stem from uncertainty within Access to Work, not from employing disabled people themselves.
When Access to Work functions properly, it:
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Removes cost barriers for employers
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Enables smooth onboarding
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Supports long-term job retention
When it doesn’t, everyone loses — candidate and employer alike.
The recruitment impact we are seeing
From a recruitment perspective, instability in Access to Work leads to:
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Job offers being declined due to uncertainty
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New starters delaying start dates
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Talented candidates exiting recruitment pipelines altogether
This is particularly damaging at a time when employers across multiple sectors are facing skills shortages and retention challenges.
“Recruitment without support is not equality”
Seema Flower, founder of Blind Ambition, puts it plainly:
“Recruitment alone is not equality. If blind and partially sighted people cannot rely on Access to Work being there once they start a role, then inclusive recruitment becomes an empty promise rather than a practical reality.”
— Seema Flower, Founder, Blind Ambition
Her lived experience reflects what Blind Ambition Recruitment sees daily: highly capable candidates held back not by a lack of skill or motivation, but by fragile support systems.
What Blind Ambition Recruitment is calling for
Blind Ambition Recruitment is clear that Access to Work must:
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Be consistent at renewal, where needs have not changed
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Provide timely decisions, particularly for new roles
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Be aligned with real recruitment and onboarding timelines
Without this, the UK risks losing a generation of skilled blind and partially sighted professionals — not because they cannot work, but because the system makes it impossible to plan.
Moving forward together
Despite these challenges, Blind Ambition Recruitment remains committed to:
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Supporting employers to recruit inclusively
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Educating organisations about Access to Work and reasonable adjustments
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Advocating for a system that genuinely enables blind and partially sighted people to build long-term careers
Inclusive recruitment works — when the infrastructure behind it works too.
