With diagnoses of neurodevelopmental disorders such as ADHD, as well as anxiety and depression, on the rise, many colleges are seeing increases in students requesting accommodations such as deadline extensions or early prep materials. But what happens when these students enter the workforce?

Sara Lewenstein, a labor and employment attorney at Nilan Johnson Lewis, said even before the pandemic, she had started to see an uptick in workplace disability claims related to mental health. But she cautions that students won’t find some of the accommodations that they’re used to once they enter workplaces. 

For example, at certain universities, those with accommodations may have a professor warn them that they will be called upon to speak in class. It’s rare that a boss would give such a heads-up before a corporate meeting, Lewenstein said. 

“There’s talk about students getting extra time on tests or extra time to turn in assignments; I have a hard time seeing how that would be a reasonable accommodation,” she said. “If you have deadlines in your job, you have deadlines.”

Some companies—especially in the tech sector—are making significant changes to accommodate neurodivergent employees. Susanne Bruyère, a professor of disability studies at Cornell University, points to Microsoft, SAP, Ernst & Young, and JPMorgan Chase as companies that have made significant changes to their hiring processes to accommodate people with autism, for example. 

These companies have allowed for shorter interview times and breaks in between interviews, she said. Some allow interviewees to see the questions in advance, or offer walk-throughs of the office before an interview to reduce anxiety, Bruyère said.

With skilled workers in high demand in some industries, companies should make clear to employees that they value this kind of diversity, she says. If employees with sensory or other issues want noise canceling headphones, a flexible schedule, or the option to work from home, they should get them, Bruyère said, as long as the requests are within reason. And leadership should be open about their own mental health struggles, and be proactive in vocalizing the resources and accommodations companies offer. 

“If we normalize accommodations, people will feel more comfortable,” she said. “It’s not, ‘We also accommodate’ or ‘We also are willing to accept.’ It’s more ‘We think talent is talent.’”

In an ideal world, she added, neurodivergent employees “won’t have to ask at all.”

P.S. Our Fortune Next To Lead 2025 list, recognizing 25 influential executives that are operating with CEO-level command, is live. Check it out here!

P.P.S. This is our last Fortune CHRO newsletter in 2025. We’ll be back in your inboxes starting on Jan. 5, 2026, so look out for us then.

Kristin Stoller
Editorial Director, Fortune Live Media
kristin.stoller@fortune.com

Around the Table

A round-up of the most important HR headlines.

With an increasing unemployment rate, anxious office workers are holding onto their jobs tighter and tighter. Wall Street Journal

Companies are mandating workers come back to the office five days a week, but many don’t have the actual space to accommodate it. Business Insider

New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani has received more than 74,000 applications for roles in his new administration. Bloomberg

Watercooler

Everything you need to know from Fortune.

New skills. As AI automates routine tasks, college grads must learn what this IBM executive calls “power skills,” or the ability to apply human oversight to algorithmic output.—Nick Lichtenberg

Job savers. Companies with less than 500 workers have mostly avoided doing layoffs because of the way they’re using AI. —Gabby Burlacu

Planning woes. LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky says having a five-year career plan is outdated thanks to AI. —Sydney Lake