‘I can no longer be a senior executive’: Workers with disabilities, including long-term COVID, are finding their place as companies become more resilient

After months of physical and speech therapy, along with medication, Pollard’s condition stabilized. His doctors told him that severe stress can still cause seizures, but Pollard has it under control.

Before his stroke, Pollard managed about 6,000 employees as director of advocacy. In his new position as campaign manager at Tarrant Windows and Siding, he oversees 10 to 15 people who go door-to-door promoting and selling the company’s products and services. His day-to-day responsibilities include recruiting and training walkers, as well as an occasional walk.

The responsibilities and physical work are far less than what his old job required, but Pollard says his new position is appropriate for his condition and will be good for his recovery. he.

“I can no longer be a senior executive. I can’t think that fast anymore,” Pollard said. “I’m not that person anymore, yet.”

His experience and reputation in the industry helped him land the job, but Pollard said getting hired was still a long process.

“Many places do not have the means to support people with disabilities to return to work, and there are no educational tools. Pollard told MarketWatch it is not possible for people with disabilities to actually work in their facilities.

“I happened to be qualified for this job because of my background, but I couldn’t get hired for the job I used to do,” he added.

High unemployment rate for workers with disabilities

Many people with disabilities have serious difficulty finding work. The unemployment rate for people with disabilities was 6% in November — down from 10.8% in 2021, but still higher than the 3.3% rate for people without disabilities, according to the report. government data.

COVID-19 The pandemic itself is a disabling event. An estimated 1 in 5 people infected with COVID-19 has a long-term effect, known as persistent COVID, citing data analysis from China, experts from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York say. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Estimates of how widespread COVID persists vary, the CDC notes; symptoms also vary in severity and may include shortness of breath, fatigue that interferes with daily life, and brain fog.

As estimated from University of North Carolina’s Kenan Institute for Private Enterprise. Of those with long-standing COVID, 26% said their condition had negatively affected their work or the number of hours they were able to work, according to the report. a separate report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis in July.

The pandemic has also made employers more flexible and inclusive, experts say, pushing them to better adapt to the needs of workers with long-term COVID-19 or other disabilities.

So could 2023 be the year when more people with disabilities find work?

It is a myth that workers with disabilities, especially those enrolled in the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) program, said Diane Winiarski, director of Employment Services at Allsup. , do not want to join the workforce.

“They absolutely want to go back to work. They want to be given a chance,” she told MarketWatch.

Inflation squeezes people with chronic illnesses

SSDI and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) are two Social Security programs that provide financial assistance to people with health conditions that prevent them from working. SSDI is for ex-employees, with a monthly allowance based on one’s previous earnings, while SSI requires no prior work experience.

Such health conditions include chronic illnesses, including persistent COVID. The Social Security Administration’s annual cost of living adjustments track changes in consumer prices from year to year.

For SSDI or SSI recipients, an 8.7% increase is applied to the monthly benefit starting January 1. This increase means the average monthly SSDI benefit per worker disability will increase from $119 to $1,483, according to the Social Security Administration.

But for many people, that allowance barely covers living expenses. That’s especially true for people who need to pay for medication, caregivers and transportation to the doctor, said Terry Wilcox, CEO of Patients Rising, a group that advocates for people with chronic illnesses. count said.

Wilcox adds that many people with chronic illnesses are unable to do side jobs or work overtime due to physical limitations. As a result, they have limited disposable income to offset price increases on necessities like groceries and gas.

“Anyone who knows anything about SSDI knows that’s not what most of us consider a living wage,” says Wilcox.

Inflation in the US hit a 40-year high last June and has squeezed Americans’ budgets. The annual increase in the cost of living showed signs of cooling down, but remained at 7.1% in November compared with the previous year. In October, some low-income families tell MarketWatch that they can’t afford meat, while others say they have to deal with utility payments and grocery bills.

Remote working has helped make the workplace more inclusive

As a result of the pandemic, the workplace has become more flexible and, in some ways, more inclusive of workers who were unable to work in offices before the pandemic, according to the report. Recent research by the Kessler Foundationa research and charity organization for people with disabilities.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has positively impacted the use of disability-related recruitment practices by focusing more on accommodation process and increased use of telework, flexible work schedules, and shared work”. and director of research at the University of New Hampshire’s Disability Institute.

“While all workers benefit from the expansion of flexible work arrangements, many of these changes are particularly important for workers with disabilities,” he said.

In 2023, the labor market will remain tight, according to Recent Employment and Workplace Trends report of Truth and Glassdoor. Employers have turned to sometimes overlooked worker groups, including people with disabilities or those with criminal records, and will need to do more to accommodate these workers by, the report said. apply flexible working policies.

Winiarski recommends that employers check the waters, possibly reassigning workers to different tasks, or dividing up unnecessary roles. “We encourage part-time work – and then gradually increase the hours,” she says.

Job search support makes a difference

Winiarski said that when looking for work, workers with disabilities face many challenges. But for those at SSDI, the first challenge is often overcoming fear and helplessness, she added.

Two years after suffering a stroke, Pollard wanted to get back to work but didn’t know how. At the time, he was still using a cane and his cognitive ability, although improving gradually, had not returned to normal, so he wanted to do “toddling steps”.

Pollard signed up to work with a company that helps people like him find jobs. However, for a year and a half, he didn’t get the support he was looking for.

“They didn’t know how to help me,” Pollard said of the company. They would suggest “the most ridiculous jobs I could never do – unskilled labor where I would have to wear a hard hat and [carry a] welder and I, like, really? There’s no way I can do any of this work,” he said.

He eventually found his current job after working with Allsup Employment Service, which specializes in helping people with disabilities return to work. Allsup works through Social Security’s Work Ticket, a free program for people receiving disability benefits.

At Allsup, Pollard was assigned a case manager, who guided and helped him prepare for interviews. The manager has also worked with him to identify roles that are right for him. He and his case manager, Pollard said, are a “dynamic duo”.

Pollard says that when looking for work, having people who seemed to understand what he was going through made all the difference. “They really listen,” he said. “They listen to your story.”