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Sometimes, even if people with disabilities are employed, they often occupy low-paying jobs, and they struggle to grow within their workspace (Potgieter et al. 2017). There is an assumption made by some employers that people with disabilities are incompetent and non-productive. This causes limited career advancement and difficulty retaining employees with disabilities (Potgieter et al. 2017).
People with disabilities generally work in informal labour markets and are likely to lose their jobs, especially during pandemics (Johnson and Budoo-Scholtz 2023). Even when the employment was permanent, they were at a higher risk of contracting the virus. For example, people who are blind depend on a sense of touch to navigate their environment. Since the virus was also transmitted through touch, they were more exposed to the virus. Some people with disabilities use public transport. Limited transport availability during the pandemic also posed a challenge when commuting to and from work (Wong et al. 2022).
Barriers and faciltators to employment of people with disabilities
Barriers and facilitators are two sides of the same coin, and they determine each other. Barriers are obstacles or limitations that prevent disabled people from accessing employment. Facilitators may contribute positively to people with disabilities’ access to employment. For example, a hiring employer may be hostile or welcoming to employing persons with disabilities (Vornholt et al. 2018). According to Maja et al. (2011) barriers to employment of people with disabilities include lack of knowledge and awareness, employer and fellow employee negative attitudes, non-disclosure and high cost of accommodations for the people living with disabilities. Therefore, the availability of understanding and awareness about disability, employer and fellow employee positive attitudes, disclosure, and reasonable cost of accommodation for people with disabilities may be regarded as facilitators.
Materials and methods
A thematic literature review was conducted on the employment of people with disability in the public service. A search was conducted by Google Scholar using words like ‘barriers’ AND ‘facilitators’ AND ‘employment’ AND ‘people with disabilities’ AND ‘Public Service’ AND ‘Africa/ South Africa’. Literature was organised and examined through planning, organising, and reporting on recurring themes and patterns. Several studies have been conducted on barriers and facilitators for the employment of people with all types of disability in South African public service.
results
The barriers and facilitators are thematically presented below. Studies were reviewed, and the themes of barriers
and facilitators were attitudes towards disability (Maja et al. 2011; Botha and Leah 2020; Charles 2019), assistive technology (Visagie et al. 2020; Manzoo and Vimarland 2018; Boucher 2018), and accessibility and the built environment (McKinney and Amosun 2020; Chidiac et al., 2024).
Barriers and facilitators to access employment for people with disabilities
Attitudes towards disability
Attitudes are formed by a person’s present and past experiences with the phenomenon (Zheng et al. 2016). They can be either negative or positive. The negative attitudes towards people with disabilities may result in stigma, stereotypes and discrimination (Papadaki and Tzvetkova-Arsova 2013). Stigma refers to the visible features causing derogatory social reactions (Papadaki and Tzvetkova-Arsova 2013). The visibility of a sign or a mark will result in perceiving such individuals as deviants. A stereotype is a cognitive representation of a social group or individuals (Smiechowska-Petrovskij 2017), characterised by generalising a given group and rejecting significant differences (Li et al. 2021). Discrimination refers to the unequal treatment of persons or groups based on disability (Coffey et al. 2014). According to Li et al. (2021), experiencing high levels of discrimination is likely to cause stress, anxiety, depression, and other adverse health conditions. Negative attitudes result from ignorance or lack of understanding (Dong et al. 2017). Misunderstanding the condition may result in the inability to accommodate the person with vision impairment. The right attitude could increase the general quality of life, facilitate self- acceptance, and foster social integration and inclusion (Zheng et al. 2016).
Positive attitudes towards disability allow social support that is needed for maximum performance in the workplace. The perceptions are that people with disabilities are helpless and are unable to develop. Positive attitudes can be achieved when employers and co-workers change their perceptions about the employment of disabled people (Vornholt et al. 2018).
Assistive technology
Assistive technology is an umbrella term for various services and devices, including assistive, adaptation and rehabilitation (Visagie et al. 2020; Reasonable Accommodation Framework, 2020). Assistive technology is referred to by different terms, which may include rehabilitation technology or access technology (Manzoor and Vimarlund 2018). Assistive technology can assist in levelling up the playing field for people with disabilities as equal to other employees at all stages of employment, including recruitment, retention and promotion (Jakovljevic and Buckley 2011; Raja 2016). It improves the
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