Users can now access a series of free video vignettes designed to demonstrate the “soft skills” all young workers need, including individuals with disabilities, according to a recent news release from the US Labor Department’s Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP). The vignettes were reportedly developed as a part of the ODEP’s “Skills to Pay the Bills: Mastering Soft Skills for Workplace Success” curriculum and coincide with the October National Disability Employment Awareness Month.

According to an ODEP news release, this year’s theme during the national awareness is “A Strong Workforce is an Inclusive Workforce: What Can YOU Do?”

The ODEP encourages youth services programs, educators, and others looking to assist young job seekers in preparing for employment to view, share, and lead discussions about the videos. The videos seek to assist all youth, including those with disabilities, in developing and strengthening six essential skills needed to succeed in today’s workforce. These key skills include communication, networking, enthusiasm and attitude, teamwork, problem-solving and critical thinking, and professionalism. The videos are also designed to address what soft skills are, why the matter, and what young workers and job seekers can do to improve them.

Kathy Martinez, assistant secretary of labor for Disability Employment Policy, emphasizes the role that these skills play, “Acquiring these critical skills can help youth, including youth with disabilities, become valuable assets to their future employers regardless of the career path they ultimately choose,” Martinez says. 

Source: ODEP