Neurodivergent workers continue to report poorer wellbeing, psychological safety and work-life balance despite growing employer efforts to improve inclusion, according to latest UK research.
The findings reveal persistent burnout risks, negative impacts from return-to-office mandates and a significant gap between employer intent and employees’ lived experience. Neurodivergent employees continue to experience significantly poorer workplace outcomes than the wider workforce despite growing corporate attention to neuroinclusion, new UK research has revealed.
The Neurodiversity in Business Research Report 2026, co-produced by Birkbeck, University of London and Neurodiversity in Business (NiB), identifies persistent gaps in wellbeing, psychological safety and work-life balance among neurodivergent workers. The research involved 605 participants, including 428 neurodivergent employees, 122 entrepreneurs and 55 employer representatives.
Nearly three-quarters (72%) of participants reported more than one neurotype, with ADHD and autism the most commonly reported, at 73% and 62% respectively. The findings also reinforce a pattern Fair Play Talks has been tracking for several years: increased awareness of neurodiversity has not yet translated into equally strong improvements in employees’ everyday experience of work.
As a recent Fair Play Talks National Inclusion Week guest column highlighted, workplace trust cannot be created through a single awareness campaign. Employees ultimately judge inclusion through everyday experiences — including whether managers listen, workplace adjustments are delivered and people feel safe asking for support.
PSYCHOLOGICAL SAFETY HAS NOT IMPROVED
One of the clearest findings from the Birkbeck/NiB research concerns psychological safety. Peer-reviewed analysis of earlier 2023 data identified psychological safety as the strongest driver of wellbeing, career satisfaction and employee retention among neurodivergent workers.
Yet the 2026 research finds that it has not improved. That matters because psychological safety influences whether employees feel able to speak openly, ask for help, raise concerns, request adjustments or challenge decisions without fearing negative consequences. For neurodivergent workers in particular, it may affect whether someone feels safe discussing their needs or asking an employer to change the way they work.
The finding supports earlier Fair Play Talks reporting that neurodivergent employees continue to face significant day-to-day workplace barriers despite growing awareness, including difficulties around communication, workplace systems, disclosure and support.
Fair Play Talks also examined during Neurodiversity Celebration Week 2026 what workplaces still get wrong about neurodiversity – and what actually helps. That analysis found that while 64% of employees said their workplace valued diversity, only 47% believed neurodiversity was supported.
BURNOUT RISK REMAINS HIGH
Burnout also remains a serious concern, particularly for employees with multiple neurotypes. The study identifies high cognitive load, inconsistent organisational support and inflexible workplace structures among the factors driving burnout risk.
That finding highlights why simply acknowledging neurodiversity is not enough. Standardised workplace processes may create few difficulties for some employees while placing significant cognitive, sensory or communication demands on others.
As Fair Play Talks previously highlighted in its guide to why employers need to do more to support neurodivergent workers, measures including clearer communication, greater flexibility, quieter workspaces, inclusive recruitment practices and better manager capability can help remove unnecessary barriers.
RETURN-TO-OFFICE MANDATES DRIVING TALENT AWAY
The Birkbeck research also raises concerns about blanket return-to-office policies. Some 38% of neurodivergent employees had received a return-to-office mandate, and more than half of those affected said it had made them reconsider staying with their employer.
The data also links return-to-office mandates with lower employee engagement, reduced career satisfaction and increased burnout. Hybrid working remains particularly important for many neurodivergent workers, with 75% relying on it. That does not mean every neurodivergent employee prefers remote working or that offices are inherently unsuitable. Neurodivergent people are not a homogeneous group and individual needs vary substantially.
However, the findings suggest employers should think carefully before imposing uniform working arrangements without considering whether they create avoidable barriers involving sensory environments, commuting, concentration, communication or energy management.
TRAINING MANAGERS CRITICAL TO INCLUSION
Separate research from Acas and YouGov reinforces concerns about whether employers have the practical capability to deliver neuroinclusion. A survey of 1,000 employees across Great Britain found that only 32% believed their organisation effectively trained managers to identify and make reasonable adjustments for neurodivergent colleagues.
By contrast, 35% described their employer as ineffective, while another 32% did not know how effectively managers were trained. The employee study formed part of wider Acas polling involving 1,011 senior business decision-makers and 1,000 employees. The findings reinforce recent research showing that seven in 10 UK employers lack training in at least one key area relating to disability discrimination or neurodiversity.
That research found that half of managers had not received disability discrimination training, while 57% of organisations had provided no staff neurodiversity training. It also highlighted a reported 95% increase in employment tribunal cases involving neurodivergent conditions such as autism and ADHD between 2020 and 2025. Together, the findings point to a persistent gap between corporate commitment and the practical capability required to deliver inclusion consistently.
CREATING SUSTAINABLE NEUROINCLUSION
The Birkbeck/NiB study identifies line managers as central to creating sustainable inclusion. Managers need specialist support, clearer processes and the confidence to respond effectively to individual needs, according to the researchers.
That is significant because many of the interactions that determine whether an employee experiences an organisation as inclusive happen at line-manager level. Managers often decide how work is allocated, how performance is assessed, whether flexibility is available and how requests for workplace adjustments are handled.
Communication is also critical. As Fair Play Talks explored in its practical guide on how to adapt communication to support neurodiversity at work, relatively simple changes such as clearer instructions, reducing ambiguity, allowing additional processing time and adapting meeting practices can significantly improve employees’ experiences. Many of those practices can benefit the wider workforce too.
EMPLOYERS WANT TO IMPROVE BUT BARRIERS REMAIN
Employer respondents told researchers they wanted to improve neuroinclusion but continued to face practical obstacles. These include limited disclosure, constrained budgets, unclear processes and persistent misconceptions that workplace adjustments do not make a meaningful difference.
Yet many adjustments do not need to be expensive or complicated. Support can range from clearer written communication and quieter working environments to flexible hours, noise-cancelling equipment, changes to recruitment processes or alternative ways of organising work.
Designing some forms of support so they are available to everyone can also reduce the burden on individuals to disclose neurodivergence before receiving help. Where a neurodivergent employee meets the legal definition of disability under the Equality Act 2010, an employer may also have a duty to make reasonable adjustments. A formal diagnosis is not necessarily required for someone to meet that legal definition.
STIGMA CONTINUES DESPITE RISING AWARENESS
The barriers identified in the latest research are not entirely new. Earlier research found that six in 10 neurodivergent employees had experienced stigma or felt misunderstood during their careers.
Some 61% reported experiencing stigma or misunderstanding, while 34% encountered difficulties during recruitment and interviews and 32% experienced barriers to career progression.
The same research found that 93% of neurodivergent employees would be more likely to apply to, or continue working for, an organisation that supported neurodivergent staff well. The persistence of poorer psychological safety and wellbeing in the latest Birkbeck research suggests that greater awareness has not yet eliminated those deeper workplace barriers.
NEURODIVERGENT PEOPLE BRING VALUED STRENGTHS
Importantly, the report does not frame neurodivergence simply in terms of workplace challenges or adjustments. Researchers found that neurodivergent people bring valued strengths to organisations, including critical, sharp and disruptive thinking.
The report introduces the idea of “neurodiversity gain” – the principle that redesigning systems, processes and cultures to work better for neurodivergent people can produce benefits for the whole workforce. Rather than viewing neuroinclusion as an act of benevolence or simply a compliance requirement, the researchers argue it should be seen as a potential source of organisational performance, workforce sustainability and long-term competitive advantage.
That message also aligns with Fair Play Talks’ coverage of the inaugural Neurodiverse Business Awards, which highlighted both the continuing neurodivergent employment gap and employers demonstrating what more inclusive workplace design can achieve.
INSIGHTS ON NEURODIVERGENT ENTREPRENEURS
The latest study also provides revealing insight into the experiences of neurodivergent entrepreneurs. Nearly half identified their neurodivergence before leaving corporate roles, while 61% said they would not return to corporate employment.
Participants particularly valued autonomy, purpose and flexibility, with many thriving when able to create their own neuroaffirming working environments. But entrepreneurship was not without difficulties. Participants also reported unpredictable workloads, administrative pressure, financial strain and the challenge of managing capacity without organisational support.
The findings nevertheless raise an important question for conventional employers: whether workplace structures are inadvertently pushing talented neurodivergent people towards self-employment because they can create more suitable working conditions for themselves outside traditional corporate environments. The report suggests employers could learn directly from the autonomy, flexibility and neuroaffirming practices these entrepreneurs develop.
EMPLOYERS RISK LOSING VALUABLE TALENT
Birkbeck’s Professor Almuth McDowall, Professor of Organisational Psychology and Head of the Centre for Neurodiversity Research at Work, argues that getting work right for neurodivergent people can benefit organisations and the wider economy. The issue is particularly significant given concerns about economic inactivity, skills shortages and employers’ ability to access overlooked talent pools.
Dan Harris, Chair of Neurodiversity in Business, summarised the retention risk starkly: “Employers are at risk of losing exceptional talent.”
The findings suggest that organisations unable to create psychologically safe, flexible and supportive environments may increasingly lose employees whose skills they can ill afford to waste.
WIDER TEST OF WORKPLACE INCLUSION
The research also raises a wider question about how employers measure inclusion. Organisations can have policies, awareness campaigns, employee networks and public commitments while employees continue to encounter barriers in their everyday working lives.
The latest findings therefore add to growing evidence that inclusion needs to be measured through experience as well as intent. Increasing awareness is important. But if neurodivergent employees continue to experience poorer wellbeing, weaker psychological safety, higher burnout and less satisfying careers, awareness cannot on its own be regarded as progress.
WHAT EMPLOYERS SHOULD DO NEXT
The Birkbeck/NiB report sets out five key recommendations for organisations:
1. Embed neuroinclusion within corporate strategy
Neuroinclusion should be treated as a workforce and business priority rather than an isolated diversity initiative. Organisations need to consider how neuroinclusion affects recruitment, retention, performance, workplace design, leadership and long-term workforce planning.
2. Reconsider blanket return-to-office mandates
Employers should examine whether uniform attendance requirements create unnecessary barriers and whether greater flexibility could achieve business objectives without compromising inclusion. With more than half of neurodivergent employees affected by mandates reconsidering whether to stay with their employer, inflexible policies can carry a significant talent risk.
3. Give line managers specialist training and support
Managers need practical knowledge, confidence and organisational backing to understand individual needs, discuss adjustments and create psychologically safe working environments.
4. Centralise and simplify workplace-adjustment processes
Employees should not have to navigate complicated or inconsistent processes each time they need support. Clear, centralised systems can reduce the burden on both employees and line managers while improving consistency across an organisation.
5. Learn from neurodivergent entrepreneurs
Employers should learn from neurodivergent entrepreneurs by adopting the autonomy, flexibility and neuroaffirming practices they use to shape their own working environments.
DESIGNING WORKPLACES WITH FEWER BARRIERS
These recommendations point towards a broader shift in thinking about neuroinclusion. The goal should not simply be to accommodate an individual after a barrier arises. It should be to design workplaces, systems and cultures that create fewer unnecessary barriers in the first place.
As organisations prepare to mark National Inclusion Week, the distinction is particularly important. Workplace inclusion should ultimately be judged not by the number of initiatives an employer launches or commitments it publishes, but by whether employees actually experience greater trust, flexibility, psychological safety and support when they need it.
The latest research suggests employers have made progress in recognising neurodiversity. The next challenge is ensuring that recognition translates into a genuinely better experience of work.
RELATED ARTICLES
Seven in 10 UK employers have failed to train managers on disability discrimination or staff on neurodiversity, according to a new poll.
Two major new reports highlight both the strengths of neurodiverse employees and the urgent need for more inclusive workplace practices across the UK.
Neurodivergent leaders and caregivers share lived experience of workplace barriers, and the changes employers must make now.
Many workplaces still lack the awareness, communication practices and support systems needed for neurodivergent employees to thrive.
The UK’s Neurodiverse Business Awards shine a powerful spotlight on neurodivergent talent and the employers leading the way on inclusion, as new research exposes the urgent need for change across the workplace.
Sign up for our newsletter
