For decades, disabled people have demanded remote work. Here’s what happened when the pandemic made it possible

A new study Economic Innovation Group has discovered that the employment rate of people with disabilities has risen to its highest point in over a decade. It did not reach pre-pandemic levels by mid-2022. According to the analysis, remote work combined with tight labor markets explain this high rate.

These results show that accommodations for people with disabilities don’t require as much investment as leaders thought. These accommodations may not require much more than full-time remote work.

A little history: Early in the pandemic, employment rates for people with disabilities fell along with the rest. They recovered quickly. People with disabilities between 25 and 54 years, which is the prime working-age, were 3.5 percentages more likely than pre-pandemic to be employed in Q2 20,22. What about people who aren’t disabled? They are still 1.1 percent less likely to be employed.

This means that the labor market recovery was significantly faster for people with disabilities than it was for those without disabilities. We know that people with disabilities and people without disabilities faced the same market conditions. Remote work seems to be the key to enabling workers with disabilities to become productive.

These statistics are consistent with long-held expert opinions. For example, according Thomas Foley, executive director of National Disability Institute (NDI), stated that workers with disabilities had asked for remote work many decades before the pandemic. He had repeatedly heard companies say “no” when he tried to get them to do so. He said that the pandemic was “disproportionately good for people with disabilities” because it made everyone realize that many could work remotely.

Due to long COVID, the benefits of remote working for people with disabilities are particularly relevant. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that about 19% People with COVID often developed COVID over time. Recent Census Bureau data suggests that 16 million working-age Americans It is a serious problem that has economic consequences of $3.7 trillion. According to A.A., it causes the economy to suffer. recent estimate.

Although mild, some long-haulers may experience symptoms such as loss or confusion of smell that aren’t necessarily disabling. Some people experience serious symptoms and may become disabled.

According to a recent study According to the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis about 25% of people with long COVID have changed their employment status or work hours. Long COVID can cause significant interference in the work of 4 million people. Many people were deemed disabled because of this interference.

Recent research has shown that studyAccording to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the U.S. saw an increase in the number of people with disabilities by 1.7million. The growth was primarily due to fatigue and long COVID periods. brain fogBrain fog is a condition that causes problems with concentration and memory. 1.3 million people reported an increase in brain fog between mid-2020 and now.

Many were forced to leave the workforce due to the severity of their long COVID. About 900,000 people who have become disabled are able to work. It is possible that they would not have had the opportunity to do remote work.

According to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York study, COVID is a problem for long-term. can be considered a disability under the Americans with Disability ActDepending on the circumstances, it may be. This law allows private employers who employ fifteen or more employees to be required by the law. reasonable accommodations Long COVID. The author notes that “telework and flexible scheduling are two accommodations that can be particularly beneficial for workers dealing with fatigue and brain fog.”

Meta Platforms, which owns Instagram and Facebook, made the decision to offer remote work options to all its employees and job applicants in an effort to adapt to the pandemic. And according to Meta chief diversity officer Maxine Williams, the candidates who accepted job offers for remote positions were “substantially more likely” to come from diverse communities: people with disabilities, Black, Hispanic, Alaskan Native, Native American, veterans, and women. The numbers bear out these claims: people with disabilities increased from 4.7% to 6.2% of Meta’s employees from mid-2019 to mid-2022.

I have consulted for 21 companies will help them with their transition hybrid work arrangements. My clients were more open to remote work and the more they retained disabled staff. This includes people with invisible disabilities such as immunocompromised individuals who are reluctant to come into the office and put themselves at risk for COVID.

Many leaders fail to see the potential benefits of remote work for people with disabilities and underrepresented groups. JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon even claimed Diversity will be enhanced by going back to work.

The reason for this opposition is the mental blindspot known as the in-group bias. Our minds tend towards paying attention to the concerns and preferences of people we believe to be in our “ingroup”. Executives who don’t perceive people with disabilities to be part of their in-group are blind to their concerns.

This is in addition to the empathy gap–difficulty empathizing with those who aren’t part of our group–causes executives to ignore the feelings of disabled employees and prospective hires. And because omission bias Executives see a failure to support the rights and interests of persons with disabilities as a minor matter, which is a dangerous judgment error.

The failure to empower people with disabilities will prove costly to the bottom lines of companies that don’t offer remote work options. They are decreasing their talent pool by 15%, and thereby limiting their ability to retain and recruit diverse candidates. They are putting themselves in legal trouble for possibly violating the ADA, as their lawyers will inform them.

Companies that offer remote employment opportunities have a competitive edge by hiring underrepresented candidates and increasing their talent pool by 15%. They’re lowering costs of labor while increasing diversity. Future success belongs to those companies that provide the best. flexibility That disabled people require.

Gleb TsipurskyDr. Jeremy teaches executives how to use hybrid work to increase productivity and retention while reducing costs. As the CEO of the boutique consultancy on the future-of work, he is also the founder. Disaster Avoidance Experts. He is the best selling author of seven books including Never Go With Your Gut: How Pioneering Leaders Make the Best Decisions and Avoid Business Disasters And Leading Hybrid and Remote Teams: A Manual on Benchmarking to Best Practices for Competitive Advantage. His experience spans more than 20 years. consulting Fortune 500 companies can use this information. Aflac To Xerox And over 15 years In academia, as a cognitive science researcher at UNC-Chapel Hill or Ohio State.

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