Guest Blog: Remote Work Boosts Job Opportunities for Disabled Employees and Helps Businesses
By Shannon Dingle
The global pandemic shifted what work looks like and where we do it. When remote work is an option available to all employees, everyone benefits, especially people with disabilities.
Every October, the U.S. commemorates Disability Employment Awareness Month. This month “celebrates the contributions of America’s workers with disabilities past and present and showcases supportive, inclusive employment policies and practices.” Remote work allows disabled employees to flourish in the workplace, specifically in relation to disability disclosure, access to care and accommodations, and increased productivity.
Disabled workers aren’t the only ones who tend to prefer remote work. Following six months of working remotely full-time during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, 50% of workers stated that they didn’t intend to return to work without remote options. Disabled workers, though, are 14% more likely to leave a job when remote options are rescinded than nondisabled workers are.
As remote work becomes normative among all workers, here are three ways working from home allows disabled employees to be more integrated into the workplace:
