The Covid-19 pandemic has 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 working practices during the pandemic, 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 now seeing employer plans change.
