Navigating Talent Management Paradoxes: Work Experiences of Autistic Employees and Their Coworkers

Inclusive management practices foster workplace diversity and inclusion. However, despite increasing interest in neurodiversity, autistic employment remains underexplored in talent management (TM) research. Talent management involves three core tensions: inclusive–exclusive, innate–acquired, and universal–context-dependent. We explored the dyadic perceptions and daily experiences of autistic employees and their coworkers, and what these perspectives reveal about TM and inclusive practices. We conducted 32 semistructured interviews with 16 dyads of autistic employees and their coworkers in Australia and Israel. We analyzed data using interpretative phenomenological and dyadic approaches. Drawing on the cohesive management capability framework and double-empathy problem, four themes emerged: performance and contribution, identity and needs, sense of belonging, and communication and transparency. Supporting autistic employees requires inclusive, acquired, and con-sensitive TM practices. Implications include aligning talents with job requirements, providing communication training to bridge the double-empathy gap, extending accommodations organization-wide, and implementing transparent, inclusive policies.