Recently, work from home options have started to roll back, with employers like Tesla and X believing that it greatly reduces collaboration and overall efficiency. Remote work became a staple during the Covid 19 pandemic, but as the pandemic slowly starts to wind down, large companies are presented with the challenging prospect of removing hybrid work options. While one may make the argument that hybrid work options discourage interpersonal connection and collaboration, this article aims to present remote work as an inclusive, progressive measures when regarding the disabled community.
The opportunity to perform remote work greatly enhances workplace opportunties for the disabled communities. The first way is through removing transportation barriers. Many individuals with disabiltiies struggle to use public transportation, especially in areas which do not have accessible infrastructure. Accessible private transportaiton tends to be extremely expensive, discouraging people with disabilites from acquiring it. Working remotely also offers flexibility and accomodation. Many people with disabilities have optimized their home to be as efficient as possible by having accessible technology at the ready, something which is not guaranteed at the worplace. People with disabilities also might need to adjust their work-life around physical therapy or doctors appointments, something which the hybrid work environment provides.
As companies continue to push back on stay at home work, I would encourage them to keep the disabled community in mind as they make their decisions. The challenges each of us face are not always known to the world, so we must go about our lives thinking and conscientiously acting for the benefit of all of our community members.
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