Exploring Neurodivergent Needs in the IT Workforce

The term “neurodiversity” means natural variations in how people think; a scale rather than a binary (Jia et al. 2022). The information technology (IT) workforce is increasingly neurodiverse, and there are certain characteristics of neurodistinct individuals that may make these individuals particularly suited for various IT roles (Abramova et al., 2025). There are many IT roles such as quality assurance, software development, analytics, compliance, and cybersecurity in which people with attributes such as extended focus, attention to detail, and an ‘outside of the box’ approach may excel. As the workforce changes, organizations may need to adjust their management strategies to maximize the benefits of an employee pool with diverse strengths. However, organizations may struggle with how to identify employees who will best fit specific work roles and an organization’s specific culture. An organization’s management strategy is critical to the employment experiences of neurodiverse individuals – recruitment, post-hire, and ongoing performance each have different expectations and approaches. Ezerins et al. (2023) offer a multi-domain perspective on the employment experiences of neurodiverse (specifically autistic) individuals, identifying pre-employment, post-hire and health and wellness as three areas for exploration. We are interested in exploring the dynamics at play during pre-employment and post-hire, as reported through the experiences of neurodivergent jobseekers, people in hiring roles, and the experiences of neurodiverse IT workers, specifically as it relates to skill matching with IT work roles. Identifying how neurodiverse workers determine the best fit of their skills with IT roles in their initial job searches and as their careers progress may help identify management strategies that employers and employees can utilize to help organizations adapt to the changing nature of the IT workforce. We conducted interviews with hiring professionals and neurodiverse IT job seekers and workers to explore workforce engagement from different perspectives. We asked neurodiverse job candidates and IT workers about their experiences, and recruiters about how they accommodate an increasing pool of neurodiverse candidates into their hiring processes. Information systems research offers insights into the IT workforce as needing a multitude of skills, business awareness, and resilience. Management research offers an organizational framework that moves the locus from individuals to the organization’s management team as the party responsible for employee success. Drawing on this research, we explore how to match neurodiverse workers with IT jobs that best fit their unique skills and allow them to flourish. The study contributes to the IT workforce literature by examining how neurodiverse employees navigate the job market and how they view the value that their skills bring to different work roles.