Where Do Autistic People Work? The Distribution and Predictors of Occupational Sectors of Autistic and General Population Employees

Previous research on employment outcomes of autistic adults mainly assessed if they work and under what terms, with mostly anecdotal descriptions of where they work. This study aimed to identify the employment sector distribution of autistic employees compared to the general workforce in the Netherlands and to explore possible background predictors. Participants were 1115 employed autistic adults (476 male; 627 female; 12 other; mean age: 40.75) who completed a cross-sectional survey assessing employment sector, gender, age, age at diagnosis, educational level, degree of autistic traits, and presence of focused interests. Dutch workforce data were retrieved from the Central Bureau of Statistics. Results indicated significant differences in sector distribution across the two populations. Autistic adults were over-represented in the sectors healthcare & welfare, information technology, and public-army-charity, which were the three most-common sectors for this group. In economics & finances, and industry & construction, higher proportions were found in the general workforce. Most autistic employees in the healthcare & welfare sector were females while having a higher educational degree and being male predicted placement in information technology. The broad distribution of autistic employees beyond the information technology sector was notable, supporting the need for an individual approach to employment integration.