Hiring reimagined: uncovering hidden gems in overlooked resumes
Amandipp Singh: From Vision Loss to Digital Inclusion
Anticipating future obstacles, Amandipp Singh, founder of Ontario-based social enterprise Enabled Talent, turned his personal visual challenges into a nationwide solution for people with disabilities.
Early Vision Struggles
- Static loss in his left eye led to surgeries at ages eight and ten.
- Permanent damage and weakening of the right eye created school‑day barriers.
From Barrier to Bridge
Singh’s experience seeded the mission behind Enabled Talent – an employment platform that leverages AI to match disabled job seekers with inclusive hiring practices.
AI‑Adapted Hiring & Onboarding
The system serves both seekers and employers, tailoring access needs through intelligent adjustment. Singh’s goal is to embed this inclusive matching within the core of workforce development, not as an additional perk.
New Milestone: Eynable Tool
Last month, Enabled Talent launched a research partnership with Algoma University. Together, they co‑developed Eynable, an AI‑powered accessibility tool designed to assist people with visual impairment with day‑to‑day work tasks.
Expanding Horizons
Enabled Talent is not confined to Ontario. The company plans:
- Alberta base later this year.
- International rollout via Enabled Africa, beginning in Ghana and Nigeria under the UNICEF Startup Lab.
- Open‑source future: key toolsets will be released for companies, governments, and institutions to build upon.
Vision Impact & Broader Strategy
Singh aims to empower individuals with vision impairments to navigate websites, interpret images, and engage with digital systems effortlessly. This initiative aligns with a broader strategy to make inclusion a core feature of Canada’s talent infrastructure, rather than an optional or external add‑on.
From charity to infrastructure
Inclusive Hiring Reimagined by Enabled Talent
Despite decades of progress, the employment gap for Canadians with disabilities remains alarming. In 2024, the workforce participation rate for adults with disabilities stood at 46.4 %, starkly lower than the 66.2 % achieved by those without impairments. More than 850,000 qualified individuals are still excluded from the labor market, while globally over a billion people live with a disability and are routinely barred from formal employment.
The Myth of Specialist‑Only Inclusion
Chief innovator Singh challenges the assumption that disability inclusion falls solely to nonprofits or government agencies. He argues that the real obstacle is whether our talent ecosystems are built for universal participation.
“Everyone is doing the same thing, creating some similar platform,” Singh says. “But let’s say you are speaking French. I’m speaking Spanish. No matter how much we try, we won’t be able to communicate.”
Enabled Talent: A Systems‑Level Innovation
Enabled Talent is betting that inclusive hiring is not a compliance checklist but a systems‑level innovation challenge. Singh’s decade‑long experience with grassroots organizations informs the platform’s co‑design philosophy, which involved collaborating with user groups spanning diverse disability types to shape each accessibility pathway.
- Voice‑guided navigation for visual impairments
- Chat‑based guidance for neurodivergent users
- Sign language interfaces for Deaf users
Platform Adaptation from Sign‑Up to Success
Unlike standard job‑matching engines, Enabled Talent’s platform automatically tailors each interaction from the moment a candidate registers. The system recommends pre‑matched hires aligned with job requirements, accessibility needs, and cultural fit, while providing onboarding, performance review, and ongoing support tools.
Cost Structure and Employer Support
- Free for job seekers
- Employer‑supported hiring and inclusion tools tailored for organizations
“We’re not building a patch,” Singh emphasizes. “We’re building infrastructure.”
The mindset shift is the innovation
Inclusive Innovation: How Enabled Talent is Redefining Workplace Services
Why the Design Approach Matters
Enabled Talent was built in close partnership with people from a range of disability communities. Over six months, user groups co‑crafted the platform, ensuring that the solution itself is driven by those who experience the problem first.
Team Diversity Drives Product Success
- Developers and engineers with disabilities are part of the core team, guaranteeing that the platform is accessible from day one.
- Inclusive teams help identify hidden barriers before the product reaches the market.
Implications for Public Sector, Education, and Employers
Inclusive systems do not result from one‑size‑fits‑all policies. They emerge from a foundational infrastructure that recognizes difference at the outset and adapts on the fly.
The Growing Momentum
- Canada’s “Nothing Without Us” strategy signals that disability inclusion is a national productivity priority.
- The 2040 barrier‑free Canada goal frames disability inclusion as a talent strategy and a test of innovation readiness.
Enabled Talent’s model showcases a replicable framework for anyone building services in a world that is complex, fragmented, and expectation‑heavy.
Why this matters now
Bridging Hidden Talent in the Workforce
In a labour market where companies struggle to staff positions and plan for the future, ignoring a third of the workforce isn’t only a moral lapse. It’s a lost opportunity, and a glaring one.
Unseen Talent is Already Here
“Talent is already here, but by not having accessible pathways companies are missing out,” Singh notes. “There are many Stephen Hawkings around and many Helen Kellers around. They just need one chance.”
Applications Getting Lost in the System
- 90–95% of applications never get past Human Resources Information System (HRIS) software.
- Leaders miss out on high‑quality talent, and the economy suffers.
Economic Cost of Exclusion
- Excluding people with disabilities can cost economies up to 7% of GDP.
- Companies committed to inclusion report 28% higher revenue, double the net income, and 30% greater profit margins.
Barriers Beyond Structure
They’re psychological. Most people with non‑visible disabilities fear disclosure will cost them a job. Most employers still view inclusion as an exceptional effort rather than an operational design.
Reframing Inclusion as Innovation
Enabled Talent is betting that framing inclusion as innovation, not obligation, brings us closer to change.
From Personal Experience to Tools for Others
As a child, Singh may have had to fight to access the most basic tools to learn. Now, he’s building the tools he once needed so others don’t have to fight just to be seen.
Every Small Improvement Matters
“Even if it is 0.01% improvement or change every day,” Singh says. “That will one day turn into a ripple effect.”
Final shots
bDesigning for Difference from the Start
Inclusive Design Is a Shortcut
When you embed inclusivity from the beginning, you avoid the costly redo later. Inclusive design is not a detour—it is the fastest route to scale.
Accessibility Tools Raise the Bar
- Tools crafted for the margins set a higher standard for the mainstream.
- Accessibility solutions for people with disabilities can shape the future of EdTech, HR tech, and UX design.
Ask the True Question
Innovation leaders should ask, “Are we designing systems for how people actually work and live, or for how we assume they do?”
