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Remote Jobs Vanish: Disabled Workers Face Unemployment
21 Feb
Summary
- Falling remote roles could worsen UK unemployment, study warns.
- Over 80% of disabled people find home working essential.
- Remote vacancies halved since the pandemic peak.
A two-year research project warns that a significant drop in remote work opportunities may impede government strategies to combat increasing unemployment.
According to the Inclusive Remote and Hybrid Working Study, conducted by Lancaster University, access to home working is crucial for over eight in ten surveyed disabled individuals seeking jobs. Nearly half of these participants expressed a preference for fully remote work, with disabled women and carers more likely to desire this arrangement.
Analysis of job vacancy data reveals a downward trend in remote positions. In the financial year 2024-25, only 4.3% of job adverts offered fully remote work, a stark contrast to the 8.7% recorded during the pandemic's peak in 2020-21. Hybrid roles have also seen their growth stall, with just 13.5% of vacancies offering such flexibility.
This situation arises as unemployment figures for disabled people have risen sharply. Official data for the three months to December showed one in eleven disabled people were unemployed, doubling the previous rate. The Work Foundation noted that unemployment has escalated more rapidly for disabled individuals than for their non-disabled counterparts.
Disabled workers report substantial benefits from remote and hybrid working, including improved mental and physical health, better work-life balance, and increased productivity. However, the decrease in fully remote roles risks excluding disabled individuals who rely on these arrangements to remain in or return to the workforce.
