Impact of COVID-19 on Workers with Sight Loss

Date & Time

Thursday, March 16, 2023 - 4:20 PM PST  

Location

Grand AB  

Description

The COVID-19 pandemic had significant impacts on the employment rate and employment experiences of people with disabilities. Through a series of studies during the pandemic, CNIB Research undertook an analysis of the impact of the pandemic on the lived experiences of people who are blind and partially sighted in Canada. From these studies, we identified that the employment rates of working age Canadians with sight loss had decreased significantly during the early months of the pandemic. While these rates have since rebounded, we became interested in understanding the current employment experiences of working-age adults with sight loss in Canada, as compared to our previous studies conducted in 2018 and 2019. While a number of metrics of employment had not significantly changed during the pandemic, when we compared the results of the 2018, 2019 and 2021 studies, we identified that there were decreases in the proportion of people working full-time; increases in the number of people working from home; increased reliance on technology and accessible technology training; and, qualitative changes to the work experience. The ongoing integration between technology and the workplace is a trend that must be continually monitored in a post-pandemic work world, and will play an important role in the future of work for blind or partially sighted adults.  

Audience

Employment & Human Resources

Audience Level

Intermediate  

Session Summary (Abstract)

Examining longitudinal employment trends in a post-pandemic work world for blind or partially sighted adults.  

Primary Topic

Employment & Workplace  

Secondary Topics

Blind/Low Vision  

Session Type

General Track  

Presenter

• Mahadeo Sukhai
  CNIB

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