Navigating Talent Management Paradoxes: Work Experiences of Autistic Employees and Their Coworkers

This publication is included in the Autistic Autism Scholarship Project. one author of this publication is identified as autistic in the project.

About the autistic author marker

Waisman‐Nitzan, M., Spoor, J. R., Bury, S. M., Hedley, D., Gore, K. E., Gal, E., Yaar, E., & Schreuer, N. (2026). Navigating Talent Management Paradoxes: Work Experiences of Autistic Employees and Their Coworkers. Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources, 64(2). https://doi.org/10.1111/1744-7941.70066

Publication date: 16 Feb 2026 Added to AutiHub: 18 Sep 2026 Type: Article Article language: English

This publication is integrated into AutiHub through:

Authors

Publication authors
8
Publication authors identified as autistic
1 / 8 (12.5%)

Abstract

ABSTRACT Inclusive management practices foster workplace diversity and inclusion. However, despite increasing interest in neurodiversity, autistic employment remains underexplored in talent management (TM) research. Talent management involves three core tensions: inclusive–exclusive, innate–acquired, and universal–context‐dependent. We explored the dyadic perceptions and daily experiences of autistic employees and their coworkers, and what these perspectives reveal about TM and inclusive practices. We conducted 32 semistructured interviews with 16 dyads of autistic employees and their coworkers in Australia and Israel. We analyzed data using interpretative phenomenological and dyadic approaches. Drawing on the cohesive management capability framework and double‐empathy problem, four themes emerged: performance and contribution, identity and needs, sense of belonging, and communication and transparency. Supporting autistic employees requires inclusive, acquired, and con‐sensitive TM practices. Implications include aligning talents with job requirements, providing communication training to bridge the double‐empathy gap, extending accommodations organization‐wide, and implementing transparent, inclusive policies.

Bibliography cited by this reference

Cited references are imported from external metadata sources when they are available. The list may be partial.

Cited bibliography overview

These indicators describe the bibliography cited by this publication. An author name is counted each time it appears in one cited reference, so the same person can be counted more than once. Names not yet linked to an author already present in AutiHub are treated as unknown, not as non-autistic. Last computed: 20 Sep 2026 01:01.

Cited references
77
With a DOI
69
Without a DOI, from raw bibliography text
8
6 / 77 (7.8%) cited references include at least one author identified as autistic.
References with data to complete
6 / 77 (7.8%)
References with detected author names
71 / 77 (92.2%)
Without detected author names
6
Without a structured title
5
Without a stable identifier
8
References with raw author names still to review
3
References with external metadata lookup issues
1
These indicators apply to cited references displayed on this page, after technical duplicates have been merged. A reference without a DOI can still support author statistics when a title and author names are available.
Author names detected in the cited bibliography
428
From DOI or external metadata
428
From validated raw bibliography text
0
Raw names already validated
0
Raw names still to review
3
110 / 428 (25.7%) names are linked to an author already present in AutiHub. 318 / 428 (74.3%) names are not yet linked.
Names linked to a person identified as autistic
8 / 428 (1.9%)
Calculated across all author names detected in the cited bibliography. Among names linked to an author already present in AutiHub: 8 / 110 (7.3%). Distinct people identified as autistic: 8 / 365 (2.2%).
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