‘Raising the bar’ on accessibility and inclusion at Amazon
October’ 2020 marked the 75th observance of National Disability Employment Awareness Month. To celebrate and spread awareness about the same, Amazon interviewed members of the AmazonPWD affinity group from different countries. I represented the India chapter as one of its founding members and current President.
Check out the full Amazon Day One blog here.
In India, we won’t see a lot of people with disabilities up and about because most things are not accessible. If others don’t see people with disabilities, they will never realize the need for accessibility and inclusion. When I was looking out for jobs, I could sense that many people were not comfortable in hiring a person with a disability. They had doubts about how I good work side-by-side with them. I feel that there is a lot of scope to improve awareness and build sensitivities around people with disabilities at the workplace.
I got involved in setting up the AmazonPwD affinity group in India to advocate and build sensitivity within the organization for people with disabilities. The affinity group is committed to building a community that supports employees with disabilities and their allies through raising awareness, advocating career development, participating in community outreach and improving access for Amazonians and customers. Our ultimate objective is to build a more inclusive Amazon and a better India. The affinity group is open to people with disabilities and their allies (who don’t have disabilities).
I shared the below post on LinkedIn questioning how many people would actually hire a person with a disability in their teams and got interesting responses. I also appreciate a lot of my colleagues and managers for the kind comments on my thoughts.
As a person with a disability or an ally, have you come across biases in the workplace?
Do share your experience in the comments section below. I’d love to hear from you.