Work from Home and Job Satisfaction: Differences by Disability Status among Healthcare Workers

Abstract

Background: Many workers with disabilities face negative stereotypical attitudes, pay gaps, and a lack of respect in the workplace, contributing to substantially lower job satisfaction compared to people without disabilities. Work from home may help to increase job satisfaction for people with disabilities. Objective: This study analyzes how different measures of job satisfaction vary between people with and without disabilities, and the extent to which working from home moderates the relationship between disability and job satisfaction. Methods: We use multivariable regression analysis to examine if the ability to work from home moderates the relationship between disability and indicators related to job satisfaction. The dataset draws on a novel survey of healthcare professionals. Results: Results show that people with disabilities have relatively greater turnover intentions, lower sense of organizational commitment and support, weaker perceptions of openness and inclusion in the workplace, and worse relations with management and coworkers. Regressions indicate that working from home helps to improve most perceptions of work experiences but does so more for people without disabilities than for people with disabilities. Conclusions: The findings suggest that (a) some accommodations typically viewed as exceptions to meet the needs of people with disabilities have even greater benefits for the workforce at large and (b) because workers with and without disabilities benefit from remote work, we cannot expect those accommodations to close the gaps caused by inequities.