Tens of millions of people worldwide have long Covid, a multisystem illness that can arise after a bout of Covid-19. It’s one of several complex chronic medical conditions with symptoms like fatigue, post-exertional malaise, cognitive impairment, pain, and neurological and sleep issues. (Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome, or ME/CFS; postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, or POTS; and Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, or EDS, are others, to name a few.) What is it like to work while experiencing one of these conditions? And how much do people’s colleagues and managers know about how to accommodate employees who have them?
Jasu Hu
Survey: How People Experience Chronic Illness at Work
And what their employers are — and aren’t — doing to support them.
May 07, 2024
· Long read
Summary.
HBR wanted to learn more about how people experience long Covid and other complex chronic medical conditions at work. In a survey that garnered more than 200 responses, we learned that while most non-ill respondents felt their employers were understanding of health issues, most chronically ill respondents disagreed. Chronically ill respondents also told us about the types of accommodations they’ve been able to access, barriers to those accommodations, and their knowledge that they can still achieve — even if the way they work looks different. We also heard from non-ill respondents who shared their strategies for creating more-inclusive organizational cultures.
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