Dylan Alcott founded employment marketplace theField in 2022 to ‘level the playing field’ for 1 in 6 Aussies with disabilities. On Global Accessibility Awareness Day he talks about the startup’s progress and taking the Innovation Bay stage this week to inspire founders and VCs.
Since launching 18-months ago, theField has posted 2,493 job ads, reached 13,000 job seekers and accumulated 196,000 website users.
By the end of year three, the goal is to have 100,000 registered job seekers, 45,000 job ads and recurring revenue above $7 million.
The man behind the Field and its great ambitions is Dylan Alcott. A celebrated Paralympian and Australian of the Year, Alcott has become a guiding voice on the treatment and visibility of disabilities.
“TheField.jobs was launched to break down the barriers and the disconnect between people with disability who want to work and organisations wanting to employ more inclusively,” the company states.
Australian Bureau of Statistics research reveals that one in six – 4.4 million people – have a disability. That figure increases to one in two people over 65 years of age. More than 2 million are of working age, according to theField. Globally, there are more than a billion people with disabilities, 600 million of whom are of working age.
Alcott founded theField in November 2022.
The job search platform is an ‘AI-driven online employment platform to change the game and create an inspiring and unique marketplace’ that connects people with disability to
inclusive employers,’ according to a company statement.
TheField features video and audio resumes, an inclusive language tool, education and readiness for employers, and flexible interview options.
“theField.jobs removes unconscious bias on both sides of the employment process and allows
employers to find, interview and employ People with Disability on their ability to do the job in a safe, innovative and easy process,” the company states.
“Our aim is to break down the barriers that exist for people with disability when accessing digital employment tools, and to in turn level the playing Field in employment outcomes here in Australia.”
Alcott has already brought Bunnings, Aesop, Dulux, Nike, the City of Melbourne, and the REA Group on board. NSW Transport started posting jobs on the site over the last month too.
“Traditional job sites don’t support features for People with Disability to easily and seamlessly apply. Those same job sites don’t allow employers, HR managers and anyone else involved in the employment cycle to recognise different more inclusive methods to find, interview and employ People with Disability.”
theField.jobs uses the hashtag and slogan #equalityapplieshere in its advertisements and public branding.
Global Accessibility Awareness Day
Celebrated around the world, Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) is a day ‘focusing on improving digital access and inclusion for the more than one billion people with disability worldwide.’
“The purpose of GAAD is to get everyone talking, thinking and learning about digital access/inclusion and people with different disabilities,” according to the US-based founders of the GAAD Foundation.
It is a message that resonates with Alcott who has dedicated his life to bringing more just outcomes to people with disabilities.
“As a digital job search platform that was designed for and by people with disability, this is a mission that is close to our hearts at theField,” the company says.
In addition to the theField, Alcott oversees the Shift 20 Initiative and the Dylan Alcott Foundation.
Dylan Alcott will speak about the future of accessibility at Inspire in Sydney on May 22. Forbes Australia is the media partner for Innovation Bay’s Inspire event, bringing together visionary founders, ambitious VCs, passionate angel investors, and active ecosystem supporters.
