FINAL WORD
Digital is reducing gap for workers with disabilities
Digital tools are now levelling the barrier for people with disabilities to access employment through online recruitment platforms while assistive technologies can help them to build a career on an equal footing with their colleagues writes Rudi van Blerk at Boston Consulting Group .
Employers that acknowledge and accommodate talented and industrious employees with disabilities will find it pays off handsomely . Not only does it make a wider pool of talent available for recruitment , but it also supports employee productivity and retention . Technological developments have made it even easier to create such an environment .
According to an ILO , International Labour Organisation report , An inclusive digital economy for people with disabilities , the technological revolution that was accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic has created new jobs , made certain occupations obsolete , and changed traditional jobs and recruitment processes .
Rudi van Blerk , Partner and Africa People and Organisation Practice
Lead , Boston Consulting Group , Johannesburg
Digital tools enable people with disabilities to access employment through online recruitment platforms and can support them in their daily tasks at work . Special assistive technologies can help people with disabilities to work and build a career on an equal footing to their colleagues .
But if people with disabilities do not possess the necessary skills or digital tools are inaccessible or unaffordable , they are at risk of being left behind . The ILO notes that people with disabilities in developing countries are at a greater disadvantage than those in developed countries , for these reasons .
Hiding disability
There is a significant gap between employers ’ tally of the number of their employees with disabilities and the actual number . According to a survey by Boston Consulting
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