The Covid-19 pandemic fundamentally shifted the way in which people work, with a rise in remote and hybrid working. While many workers, businesses and sectors have benefited from changing practices, disabled people bore the brunt of the pandemic’s economic consequences and experienced higher rates of unemployment and redundancies than non-disabled people. Just 52.7%of disabled people are in employment, compared with 81%of non-disabled people. A key driver of the disability employment gap is workplace inflexibility. Pre-pandemic, many employers were reluctant to allow remote or hybrid working, even as a reasonable adjustment for disabled workers. However, as the pandemic led to compulsory remote working for most desk-based workers, we are seeing employer plans change. All too often, the ambitions and perspectives of disabled people haven’t been a part of conversations about our changing working lives. Our new research aims to address this. Through a survey of 406 disabled people, interviews with 20 disabled workers, and two roundtables with employers and other stakeholders, we have developed new evidence about disabled workers’ experiences of remote and hybrid work. Our survey found that 85%of disabled workers feel they are more productive when working remotely, and 70% said their health would be negatively impacted if they were no longer allowed to work in this way. Gaining more control over working environments was highlighted as one of the main benefits for disabled workers, with many reporting significant improvements to their health, quality of work and overall job satisfaction. For example, autistic workers stressed the benefits of being able to control lighting and noise levels at home. Others explained that working at home allowed them to take steps to manage health conditions in private, such as administering medication, changing a colostomy bag and taking medical appointments over the phone, rather than having to justify or explain what they were doing to colleagues. Our research also draws attention to the challenges some disabled workers have experienced when working remotely, ranging from difficulties securing essential adjustments, to outdated attitudes frommanagers about flexible work, and touches on concerns about how working remotely may impact relationships with colleagues and career progression. Concerningly, many fear that working from home will mean they are overlooked for training or ‘stretch’ opportunities, suggesting that prepandemic perceptions amongst managers could remain. The majority of respondents felt the support at work had not worsened during the pandemic, with respondents in some sectors noticing a marked improvement while working from home. However, of all survey respondents who requested additional support or new adjustments, almost 1 in 5 (19%) had their request refused. Many interviewees had to use their own money to purchase equipment. While more than 65%of respondents want to work remotely for the majority of the time, around 10% don’t want to predominantly work from home – what suits one, won’t suit all. What is abundantly clear, however, is that when disabled workers are able to control their working environment, they manage their conditions more easily, feel healthier and more productive. 12 |
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