Adults diagnosed with ADHD often experience the workplace as restrictive rather than enabling.

Many employees with ADHD engage in “masking” to fit in at work, leading to exhaustion and reduced well-being.

Supportive leadership and flexible work environments unlock creativity and potential in employees with ADHD.

By Tom Vodden and Gamze Arman

Across the lifespan, ADHD diagnoses have been steadily increasing, with a particularly notable rise in diagnoses made during adulthood. At the same time, we see persistent inequalities in working life. Employment rates for neurodivergent individuals—such as those with ADHD—remain significantly lower than for neurotypical individuals. Even when employed, people with ADHD are often perceived as lower performers (regardless of their actual performance) and tend to change jobs or career paths more frequently.

One reason may be that the written and unwritten rules of working life have largely been designed with neurotypical norms in mind. As a result, “one-size-fits-all” job descriptions, performance metrics, and expectations may not work for everyone. If organisations are serious about embracing neurodiversity, these rules need to be rethought—or at the very least, critically reconsidered.

Redesigning work in ways that align with individuals’ strengths has the potential to improve both employee well-being and organisational performance. A crucial first step in this process is listening to and understanding how neurodivergent employees themselves experience the workplace.

With this in mind, we conducted a qualitative study exploring the work experiences of individuals diagnosed with ADHD in adulthood—after they had........

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