Competitive Employment
Competitive Employment is when all the following is met:
- Work is performed on a full-time or part-time basis
- The individual is compensated at least minimum wage, or is not less than the customary rate paid by the employer for the same or similar work performed by other employees who do not have a disability
- The individual is eligible for the level of benefits provided to other full-time and part-time employees
- The job is considered integrated, which means that it occurs at a location where the individual interacts with persons without disabilities to the same extent possible who are not receiving home and community-based waiver services.
Reporting Period 2023 shows that there were 5,975 people working in 6,229 jobs classified as Competitive Employment. This is a 4% increase in the number of people working in Competitive Employment and in Competitive Jobs from Reporting Period 2022.
The number of people and the number of Competitive Jobs has increased 25% since Reporting Period 2019.
Competitive Employment Trends
The map below shows the distribution of those competitively employed throughout the state. The number on each county is the distinct count of people that are competitively employed in that county.
The darker the color of a county indicates that there are more people competitively employed in that county.
When you hover over a specific county, you will see the break down of the occupations (if applicable) for those competitively employed in that specific county.
You may notice that the distinct count of people (shown on the map) and the count of jobs (located within the tooltip) does not always match. This is because a person can have multiple jobs. The map is showing you the distinct count of people that are competitively employed, and the tooltip visualization is showing you the number of jobs in a specific occupation.
If a county is blank/missing on the below map, that means that specific county did not have any entries for Competitive Employment in that Reporting Period.
If you would like to view the Competitive Employment Map for the previous Reporting Period, you will use the 'Reporting Period' filter at the top of the visualization.
Competitive Employment - Heat Map
The visualizations below provide a look at the average hours and wages reported for someone that has been reported within OTS during a specific Reporting Period as being Competitively Employed.
The left column chart provides the number of jobs for the identified average hours range. As indicated on the viz, you can see that the majority of jobs worked on average between 20-24.99 hours per week for all five Reporting Periods.
The bar chart on the right provides the number of jobs for the identified average wages range for the identified Reporting Period.
Competitive Employment - Hours and Wages
This visualization allows you to see the occupation categories for those competitively employed. These categories are the same classifications used and established through the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
When the classification is reported within OTS, it is based upon the person's duties, and not just based on the job/job title. There are 23 major groups within this classification system.
The top three occupation categories for those competitively employed were "Food Preparation and Servicing Related", "Sales and Related", and "Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance" for the past five Reporting Periods.
Competitive Employment - Occupation
Of the 5,975 people employed competitively in Reporting Period 2023, 47% (2,801) were eligible to receive fringe benefits. Of the 2,801 people eligible to receive fringe benefits, 96% (2,693) were receiving at least one fringe benefit.
Of the 6,229 competitive jobs, 46% (2,887) are eligible to receive at least one fringe benefit, and 93% (2,693) of those jobs are also receiving at least one benefit.
Competitive Employment - Eligible and Receiving Fringe Benefits
The below visualization shows the breakdown of the fringe benefits for those who were competitively employed.
If you would like to see the fringe benefits for the previous Reporting Periods, please use the filter Reporting Period'.
Of the 6,229 competitive jobs, 46% of the jobs (2,887) were eligible for fringe benefits.
Of those 2,887 jobs eligible to receive fringe benefits, 93% (2,693) provided at least one type of fringe benefit to the employee.
The bar chart shows the different combinations of fringe benefits that those competitively employed were receiving in the different Reporting Periods.
The top three fringe benefits in Reporting Period 2023 were:
Employee Discounts (43%);
Paid Time Off (21%); and
Employment Discounts and Paid Time Off (13%).
Competitive Employment - Fringe Benefits
This visualization shows the modes of transportation for someone working in Competitive Employment.
The top three modes of transportation for Reporting Period 2023 are:
- Agency/Independent Provider provides transportation
- Driven by family, friend, co-worker
- Public Transportation (Bus/Train)