Workplace Report January 2004

Features: News - Equality

Poll shows disfigurement believed to be barrier to employment

A poll for the charity Changing Faces has found that nine out of ten people consider a facial disfigurement would be a significant obstacle to getting a customer-facing job.

The survey of 2,283 people also found 85% of the public believe people with disfigurements are likely to be discriminated against in some way.

Chief executive of Changing Faces James Partridge, said: "We still have a long way to go to remove the stigma attached to disfigurement."

But he added that "encouragingly" four out of five people believed that social skills and confidence could help someone with a disfigurement overcome any awkwardness.