Industry applicability guide

Each entry shows the relevant indicators, their applicability level, and a brief rationale. Indicators link to their full definition pages.

Technology and software

NACE Rev.2 Division 62 — Computer programming, consultancy and related activities

Organizations in this industry commonly face open-plan noise, evaluation processes that conflate output with presentation style, and role ambiguity in cross-functional team structures.

Indicator	Relevance	Rationale
Administrative complexity borne by specialist functions	Core	Technology organisations commonly deploy layered internal tooling — expense systems, project management platforms, HR portals, approval workflows — that impose significant procedural complexity disproportionately affecting neurodivergent employees.
Evaluation focuses on output, not style	Core	Despite output-focused rhetoric, evaluation in practice frequently incorporates stylistic criteria — communication patterns in code review, “culture fit” assessments, meeting conduct, informal visibility — that can systematically disadvantage neurodivergent employees.
Roles and responsibilities clearly defined	High	Matrix structures, cross-functional teams, and agile methodologies frequently produce ambiguity about role ownership, decision authority, and work intake channels.
Workplace noise and sensory conditions actively managed	High	Open-plan office design remains dominant in technology workplaces. Combined with active acoustic environments (video calls, social interaction, music), this creates significant sensory demands not systematically managed in most organisations.
Manager transitions treated as significant environmental changes	High	Manager churn and team restructuring are common in technology organisations, particularly during high-growth periods. Frequent transitions without structured handoffs affect stability for neurodivergent employees.
Support accessible without disclosure	Moderate	Coaching and development support varies significantly across technology organisations. Disclosure risk is lower than in some industries but remains material in informal, performance-driven cultures.
Investigations and disciplinary processes demonstrate procedural fairness	Moderate	HR processes in technology organisations have historically been inconsistent. Procedural fairness in disciplinary and grievance processes is relevant but not uniformly a primary concern across the sector.

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Financial services

NACE Rev.2 Division 64 — Financial service activities, except insurance and pension funding

Organizations in this industry combine elevated disclosure risk, significant compliance-driven documentation burden, and strong cultural emphasis on presentation style.

Indicator	Relevance	Rationale
Evaluation focuses on output, not style	Core	Financial services culture places substantial emphasis on presentation style, client-relationship conduct, and behavioural conformity — particularly in client-facing and senior roles. Style criteria alongside quantitative metrics are the norm in most financial services organisations.
Investigations and disciplinary processes demonstrate procedural fairness	Core	Financial services organisations operate under regulatory scrutiny regarding employee conduct and internal governance. Disciplinary and grievance processes are subject to compliance frameworks, making procedural structure more consistently present — though quality of implementation varies.
Support accessible without disclosure	High	Formal hierarchical cultures and competitive environments create elevated disclosure risk. Employees may be reluctant to access support through formal channels. Universal coaching access framed as professional development is particularly valuable in this context.
Roles and responsibilities clearly defined	High	Large financial institutions have complex org structures with overlapping mandates, matrix reporting lines, and regulatory segregation-of-duties requirements. Role clarity is both a regulatory and a neurodivergent enablement concern.
Workplace noise and sensory conditions actively managed	High	Open trading floors, client-facing environments, and open-plan office designs are prevalent. Sensory demands are typically high and not systematically managed for neurodivergent employees.
Administrative complexity borne by specialist functions	High	Compliance requirements create significant documentation and approval burden. Expense processes, trade approvals, regulatory filings, and HR processes all carry procedural complexity that can be disproportionately challenging.
Manager transitions treated as significant environmental changes	Moderate	Manager stability varies across financial services. Traditional retail banking has relatively stable management structures; investment banking and markets roles involve higher turnover. This mapping reflects the sector average.

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Manufacturing

NACE Rev.2 Division 29 — Manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers

Manufacturing environments typically have strong operational role clarity requirements but high disclosure stigma, particularly in production roles.

Indicator	Relevance	Rationale
Roles and responsibilities clearly defined	Core	Manufacturing environments require explicit role and boundary definitions for safety and operational reasons. Standard operating procedures govern most production activities. Role clarity is a fundamental operational requirement.
Evaluation focuses on output, not style	High	Production workers are typically evaluated on quantifiable output metrics. However, management and office roles within manufacturing organisations often retain style-based evaluation norms.
Manager transitions treated as significant environmental changes	High	Shift supervisor and line manager changes affect workflow predictability and established working relationships. Production environments structured around team and shift arrangements are sensitive to supervisor continuity.
Support accessible without disclosure	High	Disclosure stigma is typically high in production and manufacturing environments. Coaching is less commonly available as a universal professional development resource.
Investigations and disciplinary processes demonstrate procedural fairness	High	Unionised manufacturing environments typically have formal grievance and disciplinary procedures. Quality varies; procedural fairness depends significantly on local management culture and union representation.
Administrative complexity borne by specialist functions	Moderate	Administrative complexity varies by role. Production workers interact with relatively limited administrative processes; supervisory and office roles navigate HR, procurement, and compliance workflows of variable complexity.
Workplace noise and sensory conditions actively managed	Context-specific	Industrial noise in manufacturing is regulated through occupational health and safety frameworks (PPE, hearing protection, exposure limits) rather than through workplace design for cognitive comfort. The indicator’s applicability should be interpreted in light of this distinction.

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Education

NACE Rev.2 Division 85 — Education

Educational institutions — particularly universities — combine significant administrative burden, opaque role expectations, and cultures that can penalise behavioural difference in assessment and career progression.

Indicator	Relevance	Rationale
Evaluation focuses on output, not style	Core	Academic evaluation frameworks frequently conflate research output and teaching effectiveness with stylistic criteria — collegial behaviour, presentation norms, networking patterns, informal visibility. Performance assessment in academic settings is particularly susceptible to style-based bias.
Support accessible without disclosure	Core	Disclosure stigma in academic environments is significant. Competitive career structures, opaque evaluation criteria, and cultures that prize intellectual conformity create conditions where neurodivergent academics may avoid disclosure.
Administrative complexity borne by specialist functions	High	Educational administration is characterised by significant process complexity — student record systems, grant applications, ethics approvals, HR processes, timetabling. Universities in particular carry administrative burden disproportionate to individual staff resources.
Roles and responsibilities clearly defined	High	Role boundaries in educational organisations are often ambiguous — particularly the division between academic, administrative, and pastoral responsibilities. Expectations around research, teaching, and service contributions are frequently implicit.
Manager transitions treated as significant environmental changes	High	Supervision changes — PhD supervisors, heads of department, academic line managers — can significantly disrupt established working relationships. Fixed-term contracts and academic mobility create frequent transition events managed with limited formality.
Investigations and disciplinary processes demonstrate procedural fairness	High	Grievance and disciplinary processes in educational institutions vary considerably. Power imbalances between junior and senior academics, informal complaint-resolution cultures, and variable HR capacity affect consistency and fairness.
Workplace noise and sensory conditions actively managed	Moderate	Noise management in educational settings is highly variable. Open-plan offices in administrative areas and shared academic offices present challenges but are not universally or systematically managed.

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Healthcare

NACE Rev.2 Division 86 — Human health activities

Healthcare presents a distinctive combination of patient-safety-driven role clarity requirements, elevated disclosure risk due to professional registration frameworks, and high sensory demand in clinical environments.

Indicator	Relevance	Rationale
Roles and responsibilities clearly defined	Core	Patient safety requirements mandate explicit role definitions, clear lines of clinical authority, and documented handover procedures. Role clarity is a fundamental clinical governance requirement.
Support accessible without disclosure	Core	Healthcare professionals face elevated disclosure risk due to regulatory frameworks governing fitness to practise. Disclosure can trigger capability reviews or affect professional registration. Universal coaching access without disclosure is particularly material.
Investigations and disciplinary processes demonstrate procedural fairness	Core	Clinical governance frameworks create significant investigative activity — clinical incident reviews, capability processes, fitness-to-practise hearings. Procedural fairness is a patient safety concern as well as an employee welfare concern.
Manager transitions treated as significant environmental changes	High	Rotational training structures in medicine and nursing produce frequent supervisor and team changes. Junior doctors, nurses in rotation, and allied health professionals routinely experience significant transitions managed with limited formality.
Workplace noise and sensory conditions actively managed	High	Emergency departments, wards, and busy clinics present high and unpredictable sensory demands — alarms, overlapping conversations, frequent interruptions — not systematically managed for neurodivergent-specific needs.
Administrative complexity borne by specialist functions	High	Clinical documentation burden is substantial — patient records, prescription authorisation, referral pathways, compliance reporting. Electronic patient record systems often impose significant procedural complexity on clinical staff.
Evaluation focuses on output, not style	High	Clinical evaluation increasingly emphasises measurable outcomes, but stylistic criteria — communication manner, bedside presentation, collegial conduct — remain significant in appraisal and progression decisions, particularly for consultant and senior nursing appointments.

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Proposing changes

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