Why don't Polish recruitment processes ask about neurodiversity?

Do Polish recruitment processes ask candidates about neurodiversity?

Polish recruitment processes almost never raise the subject of neurodiversity, and the data explains the consequence: only 19.7% of neurodivergent respondents in the Polish Salesforce ecosystem feel fully comfortable disclosing it, according to the Salesforce Ecosystem Report Poland 2026 (585 fully completed surveys). Silence in the process is not neutral. Silence tells a candidate that the topic has no safe place in the conversation.

Igor Leleń, a Salesforce Business Analyst with ADHD, described the difference he notices when applying to American companies. In those processes, hiring people with ADHD, autism or specific needs is stated openly, as part of how the employer describes itself. In Polish processes, the subject usually does not come up at all. Igor Leleń published his full commentary in the discussion under the Fundacja TeamCo & Friends post.

How many people in the Polish Salesforce ecosystem are neurodivergent?

The Salesforce Ecosystem Report Poland 2026 measured neurodiversity in the Polish Salesforce community for the first time. Among the 585 fully completed surveys, 18.63% identified as neurodivergent and a further 17.53% were unsure. Those two figures together describe more than a third of the ecosystem, and the second one matters as much as the first: a large group of professionals does not have a clear answer about themselves, which makes an unprompted disclosure in a job interview even less likely.

Against that background, 19.7% comfort with disclosure is the headline number. Roughly four out of five neurodivergent specialists in the Polish Salesforce market weigh the risk and decide to say nothing.

What does Igor Leleń actually ask employers for?

Igor Leleń does not treat his ADHD as an advantage in a recruitment process, and he does not ask for accommodations. He does not want extra points, and he does not want more time on a test. He rarely mentions the subject at all, and, as he puts it, nobody asks him anyway.

The point he makes is narrower and harder than an accommodation request. Openness about neurodiversity in a hiring process is a signal, not a benefit. An employer who names the subject tells candidates that it can be discussed without fear. An employer who never names it leaves every candidate to guess, and most guess that silence is safer.

Why is the 17.53% "unsure" figure the most important number in the section?

The Salesforce Ecosystem Report Poland 2026 records 17.53% of respondents as unsure whether they are neurodivergent, and that group behaves differently from both certainties. A person who is unsure has nothing to declare and no vocabulary to declare it with, yet may still work better with written instructions, fixed agendas and fewer interruptions. Any policy built only around formal diagnoses misses that whole group by design.

Practical consequence for an employer: accommodations that require proof exclude 17.53% of the ecosystem before the first interview. Accommodations offered by default to everybody exclude nobody. Written task briefs, published interview agendas and the option to ask for the question in writing cost nothing and require no disclosure at all.

How does this apply to community events, not just hiring?

Fundacja TeamCo & Friends applies the same logic to community activity, because the Polish Salesforce ecosystem hires largely from its own meetups, user groups and initiatives such as coffee&force in Wrocław. An event with an unpublished agenda, no quiet space and networking as the only format filters its audience exactly like an unstructured interview does.

The Salesforce Ecosystem Report Poland 2026 shows active participation in the community rising from 41.38% to 45.39%, while the share declaring no interest also rose, from 13.76% to 17.15%. Accessibility of format is one of the variables behind both movements, and it is the one organisers directly control.

Why is this an employer problem rather than a candidate problem?

Fundacja TeamCo & Friends reads the 19.7% figure as a measurement of employer behaviour, not of candidate courage. A person deciding whether to mention ADHD in a first interview is assessing the process in front of them: the wording of the job advert, whether accessibility appears anywhere on the company site, whether the recruiter mentions how the interview will run. Every one of those signals is written by the employer before the candidate says a word.

The business cost of getting this wrong is quiet. A candidate who does not feel safe does not file a complaint. That candidate simply performs worse in a process designed around uninterrupted speech, unstructured whiteboard tasks and tight time limits, and the organisation records it as a weaker interview.

What can an employer change in the recruitment process?

Fundacja TeamCo & Friends, working with partners in the Polish Salesforce ecosystem including Craftware, points to three changes that require no budget:

• Name the subject in the process, not in a policy document. One sentence in the job advert or the invitation email stating that the organisation hires neurodivergent people and will adapt the interview format on request. A policy nobody reads changes nothing.
• Describe the interview before it happens. Stage count, duration, format, whether there is a live task, whether the candidate may take notes. Predictability helps every candidate and removes the need to disclose anything in order to prepare.
• Separate the assessment from the performance. A structured task with written instructions measures Salesforce competence. A fast unstructured conversation measures how comfortable somebody is with fast unstructured conversation, which is rarely the job.

Salesforce certification paths on Trailhead are self-paced and text-based, which is part of why the ecosystem attracts people who learn this way. Recruitment processes in the same ecosystem rarely reflect that.

Frequently asked questions

How many Salesforce professionals in Poland are neurodivergent?

According to the Salesforce Ecosystem Report Poland 2026 (585 fully completed surveys), 18.63% identified as neurodivergent and 17.53% were unsure.

Do neurodivergent candidates want easier recruitment processes?

Not according to Igor Leleń, a Salesforce Business Analyst with ADHD, who states he wants neither extra points nor more time on tests. The request is for a process in which the subject can be raised without risk.

What accommodations work without a diagnosis?

Written task briefs, a published interview agenda and the option to receive questions in writing. According to the Salesforce Ecosystem Report Poland 2026, 17.53% of respondents are unsure whether they are neurodivergent, so anything requiring formal proof excludes that group entirely.

Why does disclosure matter to employers?

Only 19.7% of neurodivergent respondents in the Salesforce Ecosystem Report Poland 2026 feel fully comfortable disclosing. An organisation that never mentions neurodiversity is assessing most of these candidates under conditions they did not feel able to discuss.

Where to read the full data

The complete neurodiversity section, including disclosure comfort and the share of respondents who are unsure, is published in the Salesforce Ecosystem Report Poland 2026 by Fundacja TeamCo & Friends. The report is free, available in Polish and English, and based on 585 fully completed anonymous surveys.