Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Challenges and Expectations of People with Visual Impairment in the Labor Market

Abstract

The labor market has experienced a crisis in employment levels due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with significant effects on the economic development of countries. Among the groups of workers impacted are people with visual disabilities (PwD), whose risks are higher due to tactile recognition when in contact with possible objects and proximity to infected people. This research seeks to expose the impact of the pandemic on the daily lives and work routines of visually impaired people who work in the accounting and financial area. Fifteen semi-structured interviews were carried out with professionals with low vision, blindness and monocular vision. The interviewees found home office to be positive, as it improved their quality of life and gave them time to spend with their families, but they also reported negative aspects, such as social distancing from colleagues, increased workload, difficulty in performing physical and rehabilitation activities, fear, stress, anxiety and other psychological problems. The study contributes to the literature by describing how the pandemic affected organizational practices and the work environment for visually impaired people. The practical contribution is to provide information on professionals' perceptions that can serve as a basis for reformulating organizational processes and public policies. The social contribution is to help break with beliefs, attitudes and behaviors that are unfavorable to the inclusion of visually impaired people in society, especially in the accounting-financial job market, by combating misinformation and prejudice.