How to Help Employees With Disabilities Thrive | The Way We Work, a TED series

All around the world,

翻译人员: Shcjs Schism 校对人员: YeeJen Foo

在世界各地，

there's a huge disability employment gap.

残疾人存在巨大的就业差距。

In most countries,

在大多数国家，

the unemployment rate for people with disabilities

残疾人的失业率

is twice that of people without disabilities.

是正常人的两倍。

通常高达80%。

Often it's as high as 80 percent.

There are over a billion people in the world living with a disability.

世界上有超过十亿的残疾人。

在这80%失业人口中，

To have 80 percent of us unemployed,

that's so much untapped potential.

存在着很多尚未挖掘的潜力。

[The Way We Work]

[我们的工作方式]

As someone with a paralyzed arm and living with a mental health disability

作为一个手臂瘫痪 并患有心理健康障碍

还在金融部门，娱乐 和科技行业工作的人，

who's worked in the financial sector and entertainment and tech,

我知道残疾并不会妨碍你做好工作。

I know that having a disability doesn't bar you from doing good work.

So it's shocking to me that this disability employment gap

所以让我震惊的是， 残疾人就业差距

is so persistent.

竟然会持续存在。

In the US, the Americans with Disabilities Act

在美国，美国残疾人法案

prohibits discrimination in hiring

禁止在雇佣中带有歧视

and requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations.

并且要求雇主提供合理的便利。

And studies show that companies who prioritize disability inclusion

研究表明重视包容残疾人的公司

are more profitable overall.

整体利润更高。

So what exactly is the problem?

那么问题到底是什么？

Recruiters, human resources staff, managers,

招聘人员、人力资源员工、经理，

they tend to think of hiring people with disabilities as a social good

他们倾向于认为雇用残疾人 是一种社会公益

or as something they have to do to meet a quota.

或者作为他们为了达到指标 而必须去做的一件事。

But they should be hiring disabled people because of our strengths

但是他们应该因为 残疾人的长处而去雇佣他们

and all of the value and innovation we can bring.

或者因为我们可以带给他们的价值和创新。

Here are three things every workplace can do

以下是每个工作场所都可以做的三件事

to truly welcome people with disabilities.

以便真正欢迎残障人士。

It's not comprehensive, but it's a start.

它并不全面，但它是一个开始。

First, stop making assumptions.

第一点，停止假设。

Our culture tends to treat disability as a medical diagnosis,

我们的文化倾向于 把残疾视为医学诊断，

a tragedy or a charity case.

悲剧或者慈善案例。

And all of these things are rooted in pity.

而所有这些都源于怜悯。

They prevent us from being seen as peers and equals.

它们使我们无法 被视为同龄人和平等者。

These assumptions lead to a lot of avoidance.

这些假设导致了大量回避。

People tend to not ask us about our lives and hobbies outside of work

人们往往不向我们询问 工作之外的生活和爱好

or don't invite us to company social outings.

或者不邀请我们 参加公司的团建活动。

There's so much fear about saying the wrong thing,

人们非常害怕说错话，

that instead people say nothing at all.

以至于人们直接避而不谈。

They treat disabled people like we're invisible

他们对待残疾人就像 我们完全不存在一样

when all we want is to be seen and heard and accepted

我们想要的只是 被别人看到、听到和接受

就和大家一样。

like anyone else.

These assumptions also make people jump to conclusions

这些假设还使人们就直接得出结论

about what we can and can't do without even asking.

甚至没有问就得出 我们能做什么和不能做什么。

For me, assuming I can't type because I can't use one of my arms

对我来说，假设我因为 一只手臂不能用而无法打字

or assuming a blind person can't be an engineer.

或者假设盲人不能成为一名工程师。

When to succeed at work, you need to have people who see your full potential

当你想在工作中获得成功， 你需要让人们看到你的全部潜力

because without that, nobody wins.

因为没有它，没有人能成功。

So please, take the time to get to know us, invite us to things,

所以请花一点时间了解我们， 邀请我们参加活动

ask us the same kind of questions you would of any colleague.

询问我们和任何同事一样的问题。

What drew you to this work? What are your goals?

是什么吸引你从事这项工作？ 你的目标是什么？

What do you hope to do from here?

你希望在这里做什么？

And listen to our answers but also respect our boundaries.

倾听我们的回答， 同时也尊重我们的界限。

If there's something we're not comfortable discussing,

如果有一些讨论会让我们不舒服，

我们会告诉你的。

we'll let you know.

如果你有任何时候感到不确定， 你可以私下问我们。

And any time you feel unsure, just ask us privately

so we can make those decisions.

所以我们可以自己做决定。

You can even start by saying,

你甚至可以问：

"I'm still learning how to get better at talking about disability."

“我仍在学习怎么更好的和残疾人沟通。”

Second, rethink accessibility and accommodations starting now.

第二点，从现在开始 重新思考无障碍服务和便利设施。

Disability takes so many different forms.

残疾有太多种形式了。

It can be about someone's sight, hearing or mobility.

它可能和一个人的视力， 听力或者行动能力有关。

It can be ADHD, dyslexia or chronic pain.

它或许可能是多动症、 阅读障碍，或者慢性疼痛。

About 62 percent of employees with disabilities

大约 62% 的残疾员工

have ones that are not apparent.

有不明显的残疾。

So even if you don't think there are people with disabilities

所以，可能你压根不觉得 公司里这些人是残疾人，

in your organization, there probably are.

但他们确实有可能就是。

And that's why I strongly recommend that workplaces create spaces

这就是为什么我建议 工作场所在创造空间时

with disability and accessibility in mind.

要考虑残疾人和无障碍环境。

That way you're paving the way for future employees,

这样你就可以为未来的员工、

clients and customers

客户和顾客

who might benefit from accommodations, too.

提供有益于他们的便利服务。

At one of my first jobs at an investment bank,

我在投行的第一份工作中，

the company did something cool.

公司做了一件很酷的事情。

Within a month of starting, I and all other new hires

在上班后的一个月内， 包括我在内的所有新入职的员工

got an ergonomic assessment of our workstations.

对我们的工作站 进行了人体工程学评估。

They actually had a person thinking about my access needs in multiple ways,

实际上他们有人通过多种方式 考虑我的需求，

比如说，给我一个很多同事都有的

like getting a foot rest and keyboard wrist pad,

which a lot of colleagues got,

脚踏板或者键盘腕垫，

to asking if I might benefit from speech to text technology

询问我是否能从语音转文字技术中受益

because I type with one hand.

因为我用一只手打字。

I've always tried to find these little hacks

我一直试图找到这些小窍门

to make my work environment more comfortable,

让我的工作环境变得更舒服，

but the fact that this person offered so many options proactively,

但事实上这个人主动地 给我提供了很多的帮助，

it made me feel so welcome

这让我觉得很受欢迎，

without making me feel like my needs were "special."

没有让我觉得 自己的需求是“特殊的”。

It would be amazing if every employer could do some version of this.

如果每个雇主都可以做一些这样的事， 那简直是太棒了。

I mean, why not?

我的意思是，为什么不呢？

But there are also more simple things that can make an impact.

但也有更简单的事可以产生影响。

Like, what about listing accessibility information

比如说，如果你要举办活动的话，

if you're hosting an event?

列出来无障碍信息，如何？

Or automatically turning on captions for video meetings?

或者在视频会议时自动显示字幕？

Another way to think about this is:

其他方式去思考这件事是：

What do my employees need in order to thrive?

我们的员工需要什么 才能茁壮成长？

It starts with equipping people with a variety of tools.

首先是为人们配备各种工具。

Third, embrace flexibility,

第三点，灵活应变，

like disabled people have had to do our whole lives.

就像我们残疾人一辈子都要面对的。

People with disabilities have been advocating for remote work environments

几十年来，残疾人一直提倡

and flexible hours for decades now,

远程办公环境和灵活的工作时间。

and it took a pandemic for the world to realize it could happen.

一直到新冠在全世界流行 才意识到它可能发生。

All of a sudden, this thing that seemed so wild

突然间，这件看似天马行空的事情

has become commonplace.

变得很司空见惯。

And this isn't the first time I can think of

这不是我第一次认为

when an accommodation for people with disabilities

给残疾人提供便利设施

ended up improving life for society at large.

会提高整个社会的生活质量。

Audiobooks, curb cuts, closed captioning, even electric toothbrushes.

有声书籍，无障碍坡道， 隐藏式字幕，甚至是电动牙刷。

Disability is so often the root of innovation.

残疾往往是创新的根源。

So as we get back to the office,

所以，当我们回到工作中，

let's remember that all of us can thrive with flexibility.

让我们记住所有人 都可以灵活的发展。

For people with disabilities,

对于残疾人来说，

let's provide the option to work remotely

给我们提供远程工作的选项，

at the hours when we can be the most productive

这样可以让我们 在工作效率最高的地方

from wherever works best.

发挥最大的工作效率。

I mean, some of us do great working from our bed.

我指的是，我们有一些人 在床上可以更好地工作。

And really, let's hold on to the openness that we can work around everyone's needs.

实际上，让我们保持开放的心态， 以便能够满足每个人的需求。

Let's keep finding ways to embrace flexibility

让我们不断寻找方法， 将灵活应变

as part of our company's culture.

作为我们公司文化的一部分。

We know that companies need to work harder on hiring us, retaining us,

我们知道公司需要更加努力地 雇佣我们，留住我们，

提拔我们，公平的支付我们的工资 并且放大我们的努力。

promoting us, paying us fairly and amplifying our efforts.

To do that, we need to stop making assumptions,

为了做到这些， 我们需要停止假设，

rethink accessibility and embrace flexibility.

重新思考无障碍服务， 并且接受变通。

That is what will help close the disability employment gap.

这将有助于缩小残疾人就业差距。