LIVED EXPERIENCE OF JOB-SEEKING PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES IN ACCESSING THE EMPLOYMENT DISABILITY SERVICE UNIT (ULDK) IN KARAWANG REGENCY

Abstract

This study aims to describe the lived experience of job-seeking persons with disabilities in accessing employment services provided by the Employment Disability Service Unit (ULDK) of Karawang Regency. It contributes user-centred evidence on an institution that has so far been studied mainly from the provider’s side, and proposes the notion of citizenship by network. A qualitative approach with phenomenological sensibility was employed, in which data were collected through in-depth interviews with four job-seeking persons with disabilities as main informants, their parents, four ULDK officers, one employer partner, and the chairperson of a disability advocacy organisation as supporting informants, complemented by non-participant observation and document analysis, and analysed using the interactive model of Miles and Huberman together with source and technique triangulation. The results show that the lived experience of persons with disabilities in accessing ULDK is consistently positive at the level of interpersonal interaction, marked by the absence of discriminatory treatment, the restoration of self-recognition after earlier experiences of stigmatisation, and tangible expansion of real-life capability and welfare. However, the pathway to reaching ULDK depends heavily on individual social capital rather than on a universal access mechanism, as reflected in prolonged periods of unemployment prior to service contact and in families' complete unfamiliarity with the institution's existence. It is concluded that the lived experience of disability job seekers in Karawang reveals a paradox between high individual satisfaction among those who succeed in accessing the service and persistent structural barriers that continue to be voiced critically by the collective representation of persons with disabilities.