Unlocking Potential: Diverse Minds at Work at Sturgeon

When Sturgeon launched its neurodiverse hiring program, it didn’t start as a “nice to have.”

It started with a real business problem.

The team needed people who could excel at highly repetitive, detail-heavy work and stay engaged doing it. Traditional hiring wasn’t solving that need. So Sturgeon did something different: they partnered with Emory’s myLIFE program for autistic and neurodivergent adults and built a hiring and career path model around diverse minds. 

Today, that program is unlocking potential for both the business and its people.

Turning a Business Challenge into an Inclusion Opportunity

Sturgeon’s IT lifecycle services include tasks like teardown, testing, and configuration. It’s work that demands focus, repetition, and precision.

The challenge: finding people who both enjoy and thrive in this kind of workflow.

Instead of trying to “force-fit” traditional candidates, Sturgeon’s HR team saw an opportunity in the Emory myLIFE program, which supports autistic and neurodivergent young adults with community, wellness, and pathways toward independent living and employment. 

Together, they designed a hiring program that:

• Matches neurodiverse strengths with repetitive, detail-oriented IT work
• Builds a clear structure, routine, and expectations
• Provides support and coaching as employees grow in their roles

The result is a model where inclusion is tightly connected to business needs, not an add-on.

How Sturgeon’s Neurodiverse Hiring Program Works

The program doesn’t just hire people into one static role. It’s designed as a structured pipeline.

Employees typically start in roles that are:

• Highly repeatable
• Clearly defined and documented
• Supported by step-by-step processes and coaching

From there, they can build skills, confidence, and experience as they move through different levels of the IT lifecycle, from basic teardown to advanced diagnostics.

From Teardown Tech to Coder: Real Career Paths

One of the most powerful parts of the program is the explicit career path.

As Curtis Condon describes it:

• Start as a teardown tech
• Grow into a supervisor
• Move into diagnostic testing
• For some, advance to writing code for internal tools

That’s a clear ladder, from hands-on hardware work to leadership and even software development. It shows employees that they’re not just being hired to “do repetitive tasks.” They’re being invited into a long-term future with the company.

Research on vocational and supported employment programs for autistic adults shows that structured roles, clear expectations, and growth opportunities are key drivers of both success and quality of life.

The Human Impact: Independence, Confidence, and Community

The program has changed more than just workflows. It’s changing lives.

Watch the following video, in which Curtis shares how employees:

• Improved their health by building routines and support systems
• Learned to drive and earned driver’s licenses so they could commute independently
• Moved toward independent living, in some cases planning to move out of their parents’ homes for the first time

The program creates a community where employees feel seen, supported, and challenged in the right ways.

Why Diverse Minds Make Stronger Teams

This isn’t just a feel-good story. It’s a business advantage.

By intentionally designing roles and workflows that align with neurodiverse strengths, Sturgeon gains:

• Highly reliable work on repetitive, detail-heavy tasks
• Lower turnover in roles that are traditionally hard to keep filled
• New perspectives on process, tools, and problem solving
• A culture that values different ways of thinking and working

For neurodivergent employees, it means meaningful careers instead of short-term placements. For Sturgeon’s customers, it means consistent, high-quality IT lifecycle services delivered by teams built for the work.

Reach out to Sturgeon to learn more about its neurodiverse hiring program, how the Emory myLIFE partnership works, and how you can build inclusive, business-aligned roles that unlock potential—for your people and your organization.