SqlservguyDec 21, 2022
Tiffany Li

Work from home has been a huge boon to employment access for disabled people.

“The jobless rate for disabled workers — typically in double digits and 12.3% two years ago — dropped to 5.8% in November … the lowest rate for people with disabilities since record-keeping began in 2008.”

https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2022-12-15/long-left-out-of-job-market-people-with-disabilities-reap-benefits-of-covid-19s-teleworking-boom

People with disabilities reap benefits of surge in telework

The COVID-19 pandemic's silver lining for people with disabilities: a lot more remote work opportunities. Will it last?

Los Angeles Times
Dec 19, 2022 at 10:38pmMastodon for iOS
Show threadAllan ChowDec 19, 2022
@tiffanycli "reap benefits" is an odd choice of words
Show threadKidneyPunchDec 20, 2022
@tiffanycli This makes me really happy!
Show threadchanomieDec 20, 2022
@tiffanycli I stressed and struggled through having a medical disability in the early 2000s. Trying to do my job, make it to the office every day, and not wanting to be stigmatized. In my current 100% remote work I do my job even more effectively and my disability is invisible.
Show threadTiffany LiDec 20, 2022
@chanomie happy for you 💕
Show threadChihuahuamamaDec 20, 2022
@tiffanycli @chanomie
Bravo.
Show threadKathy BaxterDec 20, 2022

@tiffanycli And companies that force employees back to work disempower the very individuals that were able to thrive in remote work environments.

Remote work strengthens #diversity & #inclusion (https://pilot.co/blog/how-remote-work-strengthens-diversity-and-inclusion).

It's also better for the environment because less carbon is produced needlessly commuting, heating/cooling large buildings, etc. Long commutes to expensive downtowns that employees can't afford to live in are not #sustainable.

How Remote Work Strengthens Diversity and Inclusion

How does remote work strengthen diversity and inclusion? It allows people to participate in the working world without making inequitable sacrifices.

Show threadTiffany LiDec 20, 2022
@baxterkb 💯 environmental benefits are great too
Show threadtootsbyprescottDec 20, 2022

@baxterkb @tiffanycli

glad that I get to work at a company that supports #remotework

company: west coast
me: east coast
team: distributed across the US and around the 🗺️

Show threadTiffany LiDec 20, 2022
@ip_paralegal @baxterkb 🙌
Show threadWe Can Be GyrosDec 21, 2022
@baxterkb @tiffanycli the trend will never go backwards.
Show threadBrian BellaDec 20, 2022
@tiffanycli
I doubt this is happening in Indiana.
Show threadClinical RawlsianDec 20, 2022
@tiffanycli It's incredible to me that the technology to enable widespread remote existed for at least a decade before COVID, but it took a global pandemic before the bosses would agree to let workers use it (and save lots of money on rent, utilities, maintenance, housekeeping, etc. in the process). It really puts in stark relief just how much of corporate "leadership" is petty, incompetent, and devoid of imagination.
Show threadkellihazelDec 20, 2022
@tiffanycli I completely agree. It opens up #spoonies or even #caregivers for older parents the ability to make a decent living while also fulfilling responsibilities. I just wish certain “old school” employers could see it that way instead of an impediment to controlling staff.
Show threadRalph058 (S/he/it) AF4EZDec 20, 2022
@kellihazel @tiffanycli Very much so. I retired in April because my employer ended work from home. There was no reason for it except old school thinking. It is better for the corporation : https://www.apollotechnical.com/statistics-on-remote-workers/
Statistics On Remote Workers That Will Surprise You - Apollo Technical LLC

Since the first quarter of 2020 remote work trends and expectations have changed. Employers weren’t prepared for their entire workforce… Read More »

Apollo Technical LLC
Show threadtom4okstateDec 20, 2022
@tiffanycli this is one of those wherein over a long timeline you might see other direct benefits as well, such as reduced social security disability payouts.
Show threadMojojaxvilleDec 20, 2022
@tiffanycli Thank you Joe Biden @POTUS
Show threadExistentialistDec 20, 2022
@tiffanycli Also caregivers and parents. My spouse and I are able to both have a full time job right now in large part because of WFH. Otherwise, one of us would have had to drop to at least part time in order to handle the before and after (and some times during! Hello volunteering and PTA.) school needs of our kids.
Show threadTiffany LiDec 20, 2022
@ithinkthereforeiam yes! So important to have that time and flexibility.
Show threadRalph058 (S/he/it) AF4EZDec 20, 2022
@tiffanycli It also helps with the elderly. An older person can work longer without the daily commute. A vast resource of experience is now available to industry, if they want to access it.
Show threadLadyOzmaDec 20, 2022
@tiffanycli which is probably part of why they want to end it now. Between hating us and real estate moguls being mad… sigh.
Show threadTiffany LiDec 20, 2022
@LadyOzma :(
Show threadLadyOzmaDec 20, 2022
@tiffanycli always follow the money. 🙄
Show threadTracey HirschDec 20, 2022
@tiffanycli amazing! I’m so happy to learn this.
Show threadrahlzle dazle (Richard)Dec 20, 2022
@tiffanycli And for the world, the more diverse the workforce, the more problems get solved with innovative ideas.
Show threadDavid Mitchell Dec 20, 2022

@tiffanycli

Another reason why the ‘back to normal’ narrative is such an awful thing.

I don’t want the old ‘normal’ back

Show threadTiffany LiDec 20, 2022
@DavidM_yeg we can do better 💪
Show threadGwyn CieslaDec 20, 2022

@tiffanycli I'm fortunate to have begun working from home not only pre covid, but before my disability¹ really took hold. I can do my job perfectly fine but commuting would be rough.

¹still feels weird to type that

Show threadMkeenoDec 20, 2022
@tiffanycli my daughter works from home. Keeps her sane and healthy
Show thread50percentproofDec 20, 2022
@tiffanycli I'm looking for remote work after being sexually harassed for the millionth time. Got fired, my harassers were promoted to management.
Show threadGeorg WDec 20, 2022
@tiffanycli in which country?
Show threadAhappierheartDec 20, 2022
@tiffanycli that’s awesome!
Show threadluneellise21 (xe/xer)Dec 20, 2022
@tiffanycli is this why Elon Musk is against Work From Home? The more accepting our society is - disabled, LGBTQ+, BIPOC, the more society discovers there are truly skilled, talented, geniuses in these marginalised communities. Egalitarianism exposes the myth of meritocracy i.e. the talent of being born a white male.
Show threadJoanna Bryson, blatheringDec 20, 2022
@tiffanycli Automation also benefited people with disabilities during the industrial revolution. Some tides raise the floor while dropping the median. https://isidore.science/document/20.500.12657/30580
Disability in the Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution produced injury, illness and disablement on a large scale and nowhere was this more visible than in coalmining. Disability in the Industrial Revolution sheds new light on the human cost of industrialisation by examining the lives and experiences of those disabled in a sector that was vital to Britain’s economic growth. Although it is often assumed that industrialisation led to increasing marginalisation of people with impairments, disabled mineworkers were expected to return to work wherever possible, and new medical services developed to assist in this endeavour. Using a rich and innovative mix of sources ranging from official reports to autobiographies, this book examines disability and its consequences in the coalfields of Scotland, north east England and south Wales. It explores how working conditions, the organisation of labour, and employer attitudes affected the ability of impaired miners to find employment, and charts the multifaceted responses to disablement, ranging from health and safety regulations to welfare programmes. Recognising that experiences of disability extended beyond the world of work, the book discusses the family, community and cultural lives of disabled mineworkers. It shows how disability played an important role in industrial relations and shaped class identity. In the process, it presents a new history of disability and the Industrial Revolution, one that shows how disabled people contributed to Britain’s industrial development, and demonstrates how concerns about disability shaped responses to industrialisation.

Show threadRiikka SavolainenDec 20, 2022
@tiffanycli Sorry to be a spoiltsport but, as the study follows groups (not individuals) over time, the result might be due to more workers becoming disabled (instead of disabled finding work).
Show threadAna MadaniDec 20, 2022
@tiffanycli It's great, but I'm trying to change fields and it's difficult to find entry-level remote jobs. Well, really, even what are called entry level jobs require 1-2 years of experience. I hadn't realised the meaning of entry level had changed.
Show threadHalcekDec 20, 2022
@tiffanycli hmm... interesting. So when employers don’t need to find out that a person is disabled, they hire them more easily, than if they know it... ? I wonder.
Show threadJosh ToddDec 20, 2022
@tiffanycli this is amazing news!
Show threadnewsorpigalDec 20, 2022
@tiffanycli Work from home has been a huge boon to everyone.
Show threadOsciiDec 20, 2022
@tiffanycli Wow! That's a huge change!
Show threadNick DonaldsonDec 21, 2022
@tiffanycli that is good news however, one thing to keep in mind, is that some software changes are now causing some disabled workers to lose their jobs. Inaccessible software is driving people out of the labor market. And, there are no real to see regulations to stop that.
Show threadTiffany LiDec 23, 2022
@rantaclaus Disability laws definitely should be stronger, including protections in employment laws. Definitely a lot of employers using software that skirts the regulations.
Show threadJames MillsDec 21, 2022
@tiffanycli I also suspect that the market forces are at play here. In the UK, the available market force has shrunk, so employers are widening the pool of talent to choose from. It's sad that in times of labour supply shortages, disabled people are more likely to find work.
Show threadshripadtDec 21, 2022
Thanks for the reporting, good news indeed! Nit: Is the story misclassified as Politics (due to a tangential reference)? Economy or Business seem more topical.
Show thread@[email protected]Dec 21, 2022
@tiffanycli omg never thought of it