In a year that has seen rapid workplace change, people with disabilities continue to find barriers to employment. While the pandemic leveled the playing field in some ways, in others, a decade of progress was undone by COVID-19, leaving employers and disability advocates to find new solutions during unprecedented times.

Tactically, business leaders looking to improve inclusion for people of all abilities should focus on accessibility of office spaces, transportation to and for work, and accessible software and technology to promote equal access to company resources, according to multiple sources from corporate employee resource groups (ERGs) that spoke with HR Dive. Doing all of this while building the organization’s capacity for empathy will go a long way to developing inclusion through empowerment, they said.

"I think the most powerful thing we can do a lot of times is listen," Rob Rusch, founder of PwC’s local ERG for employees with disabilities in Charlotte, said. "The last thing that people with disabilities want sometimes is help, because we know the skills that we have and we want to just be in an environment where we can leverage those skills and use those skills, rather than being told [what to do]."

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