Craig Kelly THE PANDEMIC WILL make it hard for everyone who is trying to find a job, but especially for people with different abilities because, as usual, we will be the ones that will be forgotten about.
I have an invisible disability but I am always honest with employers. I don’t want to hide who I am!! But once they hear the truth I think they won’t want me to work for them. This is only going to get worse after Covid-19.Latest figures show that 71% of adults of working age with a disability are not in work in Ireland so clearly more needs to be done about this.
Their faces fell and I could tell by their body language that they did not want me to work there or even hire me to give me a chance. I was really upset because of this. I felt like a fool. I was worried that I would not have the confidence or heart to do another interview and felt no one would ever want me.Ability@Work helped me through this. I’m still very nervous of interviews especially if there is more than one person there. That experience still affects me to this day.
Funding for people with disabilities trying to get into the workplace is also under threat. For instance, the Ability@Work programme, which helped me, has funding for just one more year.