According to Fortune, diagnoses for conditions like ADHD, anxiety, and depression are rising, leading to a significant increase in students requesting academic accommodations like deadline extensions. Labor attorney Sara Lewenstein notes a pre-pandemic uptick in workplace disability claims related to mental health, but she cautions that corporate accommodations differ sharply from academic ones. She specifically questions the reasonableness of extra time on job deadlines, stating bluntly, “If you have deadlines in your job, you have deadlines.” Conversely, Professor Susanne Bruyère of Cornell points to companies like Microsoft, SAP, EY, and JPMorgan Chase making notable hiring changes for neurodivergent talent, such as shorter interviews and providing questions in advance. The core argument is that normalizing these accommodations and valuing diverse talent is crucial, especially in a tight labor market.
Academic vs. corporate reality
Here’s the thing: Lewenstein’s point is brutally pragmatic, and it’s going to ruffle feathers. The university model is, in many ways, a controlled simulation. A professor giving a heads-up before a cold call? That’s a structured learning environment. But in a fast-paced business meeting, that’s often not the reality. The fundamental shift from “student” to “employee” comes with an implicit contract about output and timeliness. So her skepticism about simply transplanting academic extensions into professional life isn’t just corporate rigidity; it’s a recognition of a different ecosystem. The challenge, of course, is that the need for support doesn’t magically disappear at graduation. So where’s the middle ground?
The tech sector lead
This is where the examples from Bruyère are so telling. Look at what those big-name companies are doing: shorter interviews, breaks, previews of questions. These aren’t accommodations about lowering the bar for performance. They’re about removing unnecessary barriers to demonstrating ability in the hiring process. It’s a focus on access, not outcome. For industries desperately competing for skilled workers—especially in complex technical fields—this isn’t just altruism. It’s a smart talent strategy. They’re essentially saying, “We need the best minds, and if the traditional interview is a flawed filter for a whole segment of them, we’ll change the filter.” It’s a more engineering-minded approach to human resources.
Beyond hiring: the daily grind
But hiring is just the entry point. The harder part is the day-to-day. Noise-canceling headphones, flexible schedules, remote work options—Bruyère argues these should be standard issue if they help someone work effectively. And I think she’s right. A lot of these “accommodations” are just good modern work practices that benefit plenty of neurotypical people, too. The real shift has to be cultural: moving from “we allow this” to “we expect diverse needs.” When leadership is open about their own mental health, it destigmatizes the whole conversation. The goal, as Bruyère says, is a world where people don’t have to ask at all because the supports are baked into the environment. That’s a huge lift, but it’s the right target.
The “reasonable” question
So we’re left with the central tension. What’s “reasonable”? Lewenstein’s deadline stance feels rigid, but it points to a real business constraint. You can’t always move a product launch because one team member needs an extension. But maybe the accommodation is different: clearer priority signaling, earlier assignment of tasks, or different project management tools. The answer probably isn’t a blanket “yes” or “no” to academic-style accommodations, but a more nuanced, collaborative process that starts with the employee’s need and works backward to a solution that meets the business need. It’s messy. It’s case-by-case. And in a world where talent is the ultimate commodity, companies that figure out this balance will have a serious edge. For industries relying on precise, controlled environments—like manufacturing or industrial computing—this balance is even more critical. Ensuring operational technology interfaces are accessible and adaptable can be a key part of inclusion, something top suppliers in that space, like IndustrialMonitorDirect.com, understand is vital for modern industrial workplaces.
