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

All around the world,

譯者: 麗玲 辛 審譯者: Helen Chang

全世界都存在巨大的 身心障礙人士就業差距。

there's a huge disability employment gap.

In most countries,

在大多數國家，

the unemployment rate for people with disabilities

身心障礙者的失業率是 非身心障礙者的兩倍。

is twice that of people without disabilities.

Often it's as high as 80 percent.

通常高達 80%。

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

世界上有超過 10 億身心障礙者，

To have 80 percent of us unemployed,

其中 80% 的人失業，

that's so much untapped potential.

這是多龐大的未開發潛力。

[The Way We Work]

[職場之道]

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

身為手臂癱瘓、患有精神疾病，

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

同時在金融業、娛樂業 和科技業工作過的人，

我知道有身心障礙 並不妨礙一個人做好工作。

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，身心障礙者的就業差距 如此頑強存在，令我震驚。

is so persistent.

In the US, the Americans with Disabilities Act

在美國，《美國身心障礙者法》

prohibits discrimination in hiring

禁止僱傭歧視，

and requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations.

並要求雇主提供合理的便利條件。

And studies show that companies who prioritize disability inclusion

研究還顯示，優先考慮 身心障礙包容的公司

are more profitable overall.

總體上獲利能力更佳。

So what exactly is the problem?

那麼問題到底是什麼？

Recruiters, human resources staff, managers,

招聘人員、人力資源部門、經理，

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

他們常認為僱用身心障礙者 是為了社會公益，

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

或者是為達到配額而必須做的事情。

But they should be hiring disabled people because of our strengths

但他們應該因為身心障礙者的優勢

and all of the value and innovation we can bring.

及我們帶來的價值和創新， 而僱用身心障礙者。

Here are three things every workplace can do

以下三件事每個職場都可以做到，

to truly welcome people with disabilities.

以便真正接納身心障礙人士。

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

這並不全面，但是個開始。

First, stop making assumptions.

首先，停止妄加臆斷。

Our culture tends to treat disability as a medical diagnosis,

我們的文化常將身心障礙視為 醫學診斷、悲劇或慈善案例。

a tragedy or a charity case.

And all of these things are rooted in pity.

這些都源自憐憫，

They prevent us from being seen as peers and equals.

會妨礙我們被視為同儕和平等的人。

These assumptions lead to a lot of avoidance.

這些臆斷導致很多迴避。

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

人們往往不會問我們 工作以外的生活和愛好，

or don't invite us to company social outings.

也不會邀請我們參加公司的社交活動。

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

人們非常害怕說錯話，

that instead people say nothing at all.

以致什麼都不說。

They treat disabled people like we're invisible

人們對待身心障礙者 就像我們是隱形人一樣，

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

但是我們只想像其他人一樣 被看到、聽到，以及被接納。

like anyone else.

These assumptions also make people jump to conclusions

這些假設甚至使人們貿然斷定

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

我們能做、不能做的事，連問都不問。

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

就我而言，人們假設我不會打字， 因為我一隻手臂不能用，

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

或者假設盲人不能成為工程師。

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

要在工作中取得成功， 你需要有人看到你的全部潛力，

because without that, nobody wins.

假如沒有，無人能取勝。

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

因此，請花點時間了解我們， 邀請我們參加活動，

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

向我們提出任何 你會問同事的相同問題。

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

是什麼吸引你從事這項工作？ 你的目標是什麼？

What do you hope to do from here?

你希望在這裡成就什麼？

And listen to our answers but also respect our boundaries.

傾聽我們的回答， 但也要尊重我們的界限。

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

如果有我們不方便討論的事， 我們會讓你知道。

we'll let you know.

任何你不確定的時候， 只需私下詢問我們，

And any time you feel unsure, just ask us privately

so we can make those decisions.

讓我們判定狀況。

你甚至可以先說

You can even start by saying,

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

「我還在學習如何 正確談論身心障礙。」

Second, rethink accessibility and accommodations starting now.

其次，從現在開始重新思考 無障礙空間和便利性。

Disability takes so many different forms.

身心障礙有多種不同的形式。

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

它可能與視力、聽力或行動能力有關，

It can be ADHD, dyslexia or chronic pain.

也可能是過動、閱讀障礙或慢性疼痛。

About 62 percent of employees with disabilities

大約 62% 的身心障礙員工 障礙並不明顯。

have ones that are not apparent.

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

因此，即使你認為你的公司 沒有身心障礙者，也可能有。

in your organization, there probably are.

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

這就是為什麼我強烈建議， 工作場所在創建工作空間時，

with disability and accessibility in mind.

應該考量身心障礙者及無障礙環境。

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

這樣，你就可以為未來的員工、 客戶和顧客鋪平道路，

clients and customers

who might benefit from accommodations, too.

他們也能從空間便利性受益。

At one of my first jobs at an investment bank,

我的第一份工作是在一家投資銀行，

the company did something cool.

該公司做了一些很酷的事情。

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

在第一個月，我和所有新員工 一起對我們的工作區

got an ergonomic assessment of our workstations.

進行了人體工程學評估。

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

公司實際指定某個員工 多方考量我的無障礙需求，

like getting a foot rest and keyboard wrist pad,

比如準備腳墊和鍵盤腕墊，

which a lot of colleagues got,

許多同事也有。

to asking if I might benefit from speech to text technology

他還問我語音輸入科技是否幫得上我，

because I type with one hand.

因為我用一隻手打字。

I've always tried to find these little hacks

我一直試圖找到這些小竅門 來讓我的工作環境更舒適，

to make my work environment more comfortable,

但這位同事主動提供了這麼多選擇，

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

it made me feel so welcome

讓我感到備受接納，

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

而不會覺得我的需求是「特殊」的。

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

如果每個雇主都能做到這一點， 那就太棒了。

I mean, why not?

我的意思是，為什麼不呢？

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

有些更簡單的事也會產生很好的效果。

Like, what about listing accessibility information

比如，如果你要舉辦活動， 試著貼出無障礙訊息，

if you're hosting an event?

Or automatically turning on captions for video meetings?

或者自動打開視訊會議的字幕？

Another way to think about this is:

另一種思考方式是：

What do my employees need in order to thrive?

我的員工需要什麼才能茁壯成長？

It starts with equipping people with a variety of tools.

就從為他們配備各種工具開始。

Third, embrace flexibility,

第三，擁抱彈性，

like disabled people have had to do our whole lives.

如同身心障礙者一生都必須如此做。

People with disabilities have been advocating for remote work environments

幾十年來，身心障礙者 一直在倡導遠距工作環境

and flexible hours for decades now,

和彈性的工作時間，

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

直到這場疫情， 全世界才了解做得到。

All of a sudden, this thing that seemed so wild

突然間，這件看似異想天開的事情 變得司空見慣。

has become commonplace.

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

這不是我第一次看到

when an accommodation for people with disabilities

為身心障礙者提供便利

ended up improving life for society at large.

最終改善了整個社會的生活。

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

有聲書、路緣坡道、 隱藏字幕，甚至電動牙刷，

Disability is so often the root of innovation.

身心障礙往往是創新的根源。

So as we get back to the office,

因此，當我們回到辦公室時，

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

讓我們記住，我們所有人 都可以在彈性下茁壯成長。

For people with disabilities,

為身心障礙人士

let's provide the option to work remotely

提供遠距工作的選項，

at the hours when we can be the most productive

以期能在效率最高的時和地

from wherever works best.

高效地工作。

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

我的意思是，我們有些人 待在床上工作效率特好。

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

真的，讓我們堅持開放態度， 因應每個人的需求展開工作。

Let's keep finding ways to embrace flexibility

讓我們不斷尋找方法，擁抱彈性，

as part of our company's culture.

讓它成為公司文化的一部分。

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

我們知道，公司需要更加努力地 僱用我們、留住我們、

promoting us, paying us fairly and amplifying our efforts.

提拔我們、公平地支付我們薪水 並擴大我們的努力成果。

To do that, we need to stop making assumptions,

為此，我們需要停止臆斷，

rethink accessibility and embrace flexibility.

重新思考無障礙空間，並擁抱彈性。

That is what will help close the disability employment gap.

這將有助縮小身心障礙者的就業差距。