WHAT'S HAPPENING

REMOTE WORK EVENS PLAYING FIELD FOR WORKERS WITH DISABILITIES WITH RECORD EMPLOYMENT

An overall labor shortage and a wider acceptance of remote working have presented historic opportunities for some of the country's most skilled and underutilized workers.

Employment rates among people with disabilities dropped, along with the rest of the labor market, early in the pandemic. However, they recovered quickly. People with disabilities aged 25 to 54, the prime working age, were 3.5 percentage points more likely to be employed in 2022 than they were pre-pandemic.

The labor market recovery for those with disabilities was markedly faster than for those without disabilities. We know that those with disabilities and those without faced similar market conditions. Remote work appears to offer the major differentiator that enabled workers with disabilities to be productive.

There had been some gains over recent years as employers dipped into previously untapped pockets of potential employees to fill open positions to include people with disabilities. Remote work was one area where such workers had been making some progress in the days before the pandemic, although telework was still underused in most workplaces. Despite the accommodation requirements of the ADA, some companies stuck with the idea that work can only be performed successfully in a physical location, which left many people out of the employment pipeline.

The labor force participation rate of people with disabilities, or the share of the population working or looking for work, was about 37 percent in August 2022, according to an analysis by the Kessler Foundation and the University of New Hampshire. This is about a 5 percent increase compared with April 2020.

Enabling people with disabilities to work remotely offers the opportunity for them to either establish or leverage an existing

setup that meets their needs and enables them to contribute successfully. At the end of the day, no one is more qualified to know what setup they need to be successful than they are.

"The labor force participation rate of people with disabilities, was about 37 percent in August 2022, about a 5 percent increase."

Russell Rawlings, 45, who lives in Sacramento, CA with cerebral palsy told the Los Angeles Times that, up until the pandemic, he was going into the office at a nonprofit independent living center Monday through Friday.

The commute was just two miles from his home, but Rawlings got up at 5 a.m. to make it to work by 8. It took that long for him to get ready and into his powered wheelchair to the bus stop and to his desk. It was even harder on rainy days; he needed someone to help him put on his poncho before heading out.

REMOTE POSSIBILITIES: Despite the accommodation requirements of the ADA, some companies stuck with the idea that work can only be performed successfully in a physical location, which left many people out of the employment pipeline.

In March, Rawlings started a new job as an education organizer for Hand in Hand, which assists domestic workers. The newly created position is fully remote. Now, thanks largely to the widespread acceptance of remote working, he's not only eliminated that difficult commute, but is also working in a position that gives him a greater sense of self-worth and accomplishment.

"For all my years spent on SSI, it just seemed impossible," he said. "I never thought I would be able to do community organization remotely."

As remote work is normalized, this may be the tipping point where organizations take advantage of an unprecedented opportunity to tap into a potentially new and vibrant labor market among Americans with disabilities. With issues around recruitment, retention and talent acquisition remaining at the fore, offering the option to work remotely simply makes sense. The necessity to pivot and move employees to home spaces has demonstrated that remote work can be highly successful, even in the face of what used to be considered less-than-optimal circumstances.