'Despite seeing an overall rise in remote and flexible working since, it's particularly concerning to see that 'pre-pandemic' perceptions are still affecting the experience of work for disabled people, with many fearing their career progression and access to training and development will be limited if they continue working from home. 'Many employers refused to offer remote or hybrid working options before COVID-19 hit-even as reasonable adjustments-which probably goes some way to explain the shocking disability employment gap we face in the UK. 'Disabled people have been worst affected by the economic fallout of the pandemic, experiencing higher rates of unemployment and redundancies than non-disabled people,' Ben Harrison, Director of the Work Foundation, explains. One in five of the UK working-age population now identify as disabled, so the Work Foundation says it's imperative that colleagues, managers, employers and government do more to support disabled people to enter and stay in the workplace. With only 52.7% of disabled people employed in the UK compared to 81% of non-disabled people, and the disability pay gap increasing from 11.7% in 2014 to 13.8% in 2021 the study emphasizes the significant barriers and disadvantages disabled people continue to face in the labor market.

Commissioned by City Bridge Trust, the City of London Corporation's charity funder, the study involves a survey of 406 disabled workers living and working across the UK earlier this year, along with 20 in-depth interviews and two roundtable events. The new study, published today by the Work Foundation think-tank at Lancaster University, explores disabled workers' experiences of remote and hybrid working, before and during the pandemic. Seventy percent of disabled workers with two or more impairments also fear that working from home will mean they are overlooked for training or 'stretch' opportunities, suggesting that pre-pandemic perceptions amongst managers and employers could remain. While many are being allowed to continue working from home, some feel it has been arranged reluctantly. Seventy percent say that not being allowed to work remotely would negatively impact their health, but most fear remote working will damage their career progression. In a survey of hundreds of disabled workers across the UK, 80% agree remote working would either be essential or very important when looking for a new job, and 66% ideally want to work remotely 80-100% of the time.

Workers career ladder working remotely