Software giant Microsoft has begun recruiting autistic employees as its first step toward hiring more people with disabilities.

The company’s worldwide operations vice-president Mary Ellen Smith, who has a son with autism, announced the move in a blog post.

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“People with autism bring strengths that we need at Microsoft, each individual is different, some have amazing ability to retain information, think at a level of detail and depth or excel in maths or code,” Ms Smith wrote.

“It’s a talent pool that we want to continue to bring to Microsoft,” she said.

Danish nonprofit company Specialisterne will train the new employees.

“Microsoft is stronger when we expand opportunity and we have a diverse workforce that represents our customers.”