Tech’s Long Hours Are Discriminatory and Counterproductive
One-third of workers are ill or disabled—and this industry is shutting them out
Whether you realize it or not, you are likely interacting with ill or disabled people regularly. According to recent survey data, a high portion of the U.S. workforce reports having a disability (30 percent), even though a much smaller percentage says they’ve self-identified as disabled to their employer (only 3.2 percent). Often, these illnesses and disabilities are impossible for others to observe, so many people choose to keep their conditions a secret from managers and co-workers to avoid discrimination.
Health is not binary; it can fluctuate and is subjective. I have experienced a number of health challenges, including having brain surgery twice (once while pregnant) and one life-threatening brain infection (which can take years to recover from). Trust me when I say that you can’t assess someone’s health based on their appearance or mood. And yet, over one-third of people with disabilities say they have experienced negative bias in their current job.
I work in the tech industry, where there is an overt glorification—and in many cases, a requirement—of working unhealthily long hours. This is in spite of research showing that putting in longer hours doesn’t…
