Remote work has been a boon for older workers with disabilities

The push and pull between employers and their employees continues: How much remote work is allowed now that we’re out of the worst of the COVID pandemic? Recent data from Kastle, which operates security systems for office buildings and tracks swipes in and out, showed that about half of workers are coming in. This trend has held for a while now, which means lots of people are still working remotely at least a couple of days each week.

While the balance between in-person and remote work settles, we’re getting more research about how the rise of remote work has changed the labor force. One new report shows a clear winner in all of this: older workers with disabilities.

Marketplace’s senior economics contributor, Chris Farrell, has been looking into this, and he discussed it with “Marketplace Morning Report” host Sabri Ben-Achour. The following is an edited transcript of their conversation.

Sabri Ben-Achour: I guess the first thing to note here is that older workers with disabilities have done particularly well in the years since the pandemic. What does the data show?

Chris Farrell: The numbers are going in the right direction. I mean, the employment rate for people with disabilities ages 51 to 64, they rebounded more rapidly after the pandemic than for other older workers. They even rose above pre-pandemic levels in late 2021, early 2022. And it can’t be a coincidence that the gains were made while employers increasingly embraced remote work during and after the short pandemic recession.

Ben-Achour: So, the idea is that remote work would help these kinds of workers. Do we have any concrete evidence that more remote work is related to a higher employment rate for older workers?

Farrell: Two Boston College economists, they found in “teleworkable” occupations — jobs that allow for remote work — employment for the 51-to-64-year age group with disabilities was up almost 12% in 2022 compared to 2018. Now, for the same cohort working in non-teleworkable occupations — barely any gain. Nearly all of the post-pandemic employment gains for older people with disabilities was in teleworkable occupations, in contrast to little change in non-teleworkable occupations.

Ben-Achour: The U.S. population has been getting older. The average age has been rising. Is this an argument that remote work is more compatible with the workforce we have, where the workforce is going?

Farrell: Many older employees with disabilities, you know, they want to extend their work lives, they want to be making an income. But perhaps they don’t want to commute anymore, or maybe their workplace won’t make the kind of accommodations they need. Look, telework expands the employment options for all workers of all ages dealing with disabilities — and that includes older workers.

Ben-Achour: And yet, I mean — there is still a very concerted pushback on the part of at least certain industries to get employees back into the office as much as possible, is there not?

Farrell: There is. But here’s my sense: The speed of change has been remarkable since 2019, and there’s no going back. The remote work option represents a fundamental shift in how many of us will work and live — and mostly for the better.