Attitudes towards disability within the UK workplace have significantly improved since the London 2012 Paralympic Games, according to research by Nationwide Building Society.
Nationwide’s poll shows that more than two thirds (67%) of all UK adults believe that the profile of disability - such as the awareness of different types of conditions - has been raised since the Games, while less than a fifth (18%) said companies are less supportive of the needs of disabled people since the Paralympics.
Public opinion also suggests that the change in attitude has led to an increase in job opportunities for disabled people – 35% stated that the barriers disabled people have faced in work, including access to work and promotion, are less significant than they were before the Games.
Employees also feel that colleagues have become more aware of disability since last summer, with 39% noticing an improvement in their place of work, while 7% were aware of an incident in which a disabled employee has not been given support they require, such as specialist equipment or general assistance.
Despite a positive outlook however, the survey also reveals that poor access at work remains the biggest bugbear of those wishing to see improvements made for disabled people over the next 12 months, in addition to a need to recruit more disabled people into companies.
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