(Bloomberg) – The rise of remote work helped the employment of people with disabilities hit record highs last year amid the pandemic.
Employment in 2022 rose to .3%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Thursday. . That was more than two percentage points more than 2008 and the highest level since comparable data was first released for 2008.
The unemployment rate for persons with disabilities fell in line with the national average last year. While labor force participation did increase for people without disabilities, it tripled for people with disabilities.
READ MORE: Americans with Disabilities Receive Telework Incentives in Record Employment
Routine tasks like commuting and navigating office spaces can be overwhelming for people with disabilities difficulty. As companies adopt remote and hybrid work arrangements, more people with disabilities are applying for and finding jobs—sometimes for the first time in years.
Recent corporate moves to urge employees back into the office could threaten the fact that people with disabilities make up approximately % of the population, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. A report from consulting firm McKinsey & Co. last June estimated that 21% of companies offer the option to go fully remote.
Overall, people with disabilities are still less likely to be employed than their non-disabled counterparts, and they are twice as likely to be in part-time work, the BLS reports. They are also more likely to be self-employed.
