Work from home

As work from home becomes more mainstream, Rustim Ariefdien takes a look at how people with disabilities can benefit

Persons with disabilities face many challenges. Economic empowerment opportunities, or the lack thereof, denies us the right to participate in the mainstream economy. One challenge is the availability of accessible transport. With COVID-19, the “work-from-home” craze has become a more pronounced phenomenon.

How does working from home empower people with disabilities to take better advantage of economic empowerment opportunities? One must have the temperament to work from home. You need to discipline yourself into a routine. When you have a job, it is easy to set an alarm, wake up and get ready for work. When one needs to get up and do a string of tasks for the day of your own free will, it is not easy. Skills such as effective calendar and time management is important. Within this context task management and the scheduling of tasks are necessary in achieving deadlines.

A typical skill set for working from home would include communication and computer skills. Jobs include call-centre work, data capturing, administration, bookkeeping and many other disciplines. With more formal employment, working from home will probably have fixed office hours. These fixed times will have similar routines as going into work, but with the advantage of saving on travel. This, of course, removes a major impediment for those with mobility impairments. Flexi-time is where the outcomes of tasks are measured and the “when” is less important.

Opportunities for working from home can be found on social media, by word of mouth or through professional job searching sites. Social media can be used to promote your services if you would like to take a freelance approach – in which you determine your hours or workspace.

DreamXchange is an online hub that matches work-from-home professionals with potential clients. This is a free service with which to register. When considering working from home, one must have the necessary equipment. A computer or tablet are the entry-level tools that are absolutely necessary. Together with a reliable internet connection and phone would get most jobs done.

The Microsoft Office Suite with Outlook, Word and Excel are popular, but products from Google such as Gmail, Tasks, Docs and Sheets can be used as well. There are many other options from which to choose. E-mail and messaging are important communication tools. So is video conferencing where apps such as Microsoft Teams, Zoom and Google Meet are the more popular. Take note that a decent camera would be needed for this activity.

Should you wish to work from home as a business, I strongly recommend formalising your business. It is easy to register a business today and there are many online services to assist in this regard. You could approach organisations such as Small Enterprise Development Agency and National Youth Development Agency. You could apply for business funding through the Small Enterprise Finance Agency. This strategy can be a solution for those who have successfully completed QASA’s Work Readiness Programme. There are opportunities for people with disabilities out there. We just need to look for them.