Neurodivergent talent is already present in most tech teams. The question is not whether it exists, but whether recruitment design and leadership capability allow that talent to contribute fully and sustainably.
Emerging academic and industry research suggests that relatively small changes in recruitment processes and management practice could significantly strengthen workforce capability in the technology sector.
Here is a statistic that should make tech leaders pause.
In one of the largest global studies of neurodiversity in the technology sector, more than 2,000 employees across companies including Colt, Nokia, Samsung and Vodafone were surveyed. One finding stood out: 57% of neurodivergent employees had not disclosed their neurodivergence to anyone at work (ChangeTheFace Alliance, 2023).
They were writing code, analysing data, solving complex problems and contributing to delivery targets, yet largely invisible to the systems designed to support sustainable performance.
Given that up to one in five people are neurodivergent, most technology teams already include individuals with ADHD, autism, dyslexia, dyspraxia or related cognitive differences. Yet many are navigating workplaces designed around neurotypical assumptions. In a sector facing ongoing skill
shortages, this is not only a wellbeing issue. It is a workforce capability issue.
Often this means masking. Neurodivergent employees may consciously adapt how they communicate, process information or manage workload in order to meet perceived expectations. For many, this adaptation is sustained rather than occasional.
Research indicates that prolonged masking is associated with burnout, anxiety and deterioration in mental health over time (Vargas-Salas et al., 2025). The same global study found neurodivergent employees were five times more likely to regularly hide crucial aspects of their identity than neurotypical colleagues (ChangeTheFace Alliance, 2023).
For organisations, the implications are structural as well as personal. Sustained masking reduces retention, increases burnout risk and obscures the signals leaders need to build resilient teams. When employees feel unable to discuss how they work best, organisations lose the opportunity to optimise performance. Managers often assume that if no one is raising concerns, everything is functioning smoothly. In reality, masking can make pressure invisible precisely when support would be most effective.
What helps is often simpler than expected. Regular one-to-ones that explore how someone is working, not just what they are delivering. Agendas shared before meetings rather than relying on real-time processing. Explicit communication about available support. Recognising that many neurodivergent employees are undiagnosed or awaiting assessment, and that experience matters regardless of formal status.
These are not specialist adjustments. They are the foundations of leadership capability that reduces friction, sustains output and builds the psychological safety that retains skilled people.
Across multiple studies, one theme appears consistently: the most significant barrier is not capability. It is recruitment design.
Research into the digital technology workforce identifies recruitment processes as the steepest barrier for neurodivergent candidates entering employment (Skills Development Scotland, 2020). Neurodivergent employees face more than double the number of recruitment challenges compared
to neurotypical colleagues (ChangeTheFace Alliance, 2023).
Psychometric tests that prioritise speed over accuracy, ambiguous interview questions and highly social assessment centres can unintentionally reward social signalling over technical capability.
In practice, this means organisations may be systematically filtering out candidates who excel in pattern recognition, systems reasoning, analytical depth or sustained focus. In a sector where demand for digital
skills continues to outstrip supply, this is a structural capability gap.
Only around 32% of autistic adults are in paid work compared with 76% of the wider UK population (Skills Development Scotland, 2020). For a sector facing ongoing skill shortages, improving recruitment design is not a wellbeing initiative. It is a workforce resilience and leadership maturity issue.
The business case is increasingly clear. Research consistently links neuroinclusive environments with stronger engagement, improved retention and more effective collaboration.
Manager capability is decisive. Psychological safety, clarity of expectation and flexibility in how work is structured determine whether skilled people remain and contribute sustainably. Yet more than half of
neurotypical employees surveyed (56%) reported limited knowledge of neurodiversity, while 78% said they would welcome greater awareness and understanding in their workplace (ChangeTheFace Alliance, 2023).
The appetite for better practice is present. What organisations frequently lack is structured development that builds leadership confidence and translates intention into sustained operational change.
Across the Leeds tech community, many employers are already considering how to widen access to digital talent while strengthening long-term organisational performance.
In Yorkshire, a new funded research collaboration is examining how recruitment design and leadership capability can support more inclusive and sustainable employment outcomes for neurodivergent talent.
ThinkND: Inclusive Solutions is leading a project through the Yorkshire Policy Innovation Partnership’s Communities Innovating Yorkshire Fund, within the Good Work and Better Business programme’s Inclusive Recruitment strand. Delivered in collaboration with Lighthouse Futures Trust, with support from Leeds City Council and the Leeds Mindful Employer Network, the project focuses on practical, evidence-informed improvements to recruitment and long-term employment experience.
The aim is not awareness alone. It is to generate structured tools and insights that help employers strengthen recruitment design, manager capability and workforce resilience.
The Yorkshire Policy Innovation Partnership intends to use findings to inform and influence future government policy. By gathering lived experience alongside employer perspectives, the project will generate scalable insight that contributes to regional and national conversations about good work
and inclusive growth.
The project is designed to generate practical, scalable tools and insight that help employers strengthen recruitment design, manager capability and workforce resilience, with findings intended to inform regional and national policy.
Yorkshire technology employers at any stage of development who are interested in understanding the gap between organisational intention and lived employee experience are welcome to get in touch by contacting Paula or Kate.
As neurodivergent founders themselves, Paula Louise Dixon and Kate Dean bring both professional expertise and lived experience to theirwork. Paula is a Business and Coaching Psychologist specialising in neurodiversity and founder-focused coaching. Kate is a Neuroinclusion Consultant. Together they lead ThinkND: Inclusive Solutions, a Yorkshire-based consultancy working with organisations to create neuroinclusive workplaces grounded in psychological safety and evidence-informed practice.
ChangeTheFace Alliance (2023) Neurodiversity in the Tech Sector: Global research on accessibility, barriers and how companies can do better.
Skills Development Scotland (2020) Neurodiversity in Digital Technology: Summary Report.
Vargas-Salas, O. et al. (2025) Neurodivergence and the workplace: A systematic review of the literature.
