Survey of people with disabilities on inclusion during the Corona pandemic:
“Making barriers visible in order to remove them”
- There are 1.4 million people with disabilities in Austria
- 80 per cent of people with disabilities surveyed were in stable employment during the pandemic
- Economic situation for 82 percent of people with disabilities largely stable despite Corona
- 45 per cent say that their situation has become worse as a result of the Corona crisis: Main problems in the pandemic were lack of social contacts, isolation and loneliness
- Home office is clearly gaining in importance, but 50 percent of respondents prefer a balanced mix of home office and office, because otherwise social contacts are lacking
- For 65 per cent of respondents, digital and accessible services are an important selection criteria
There are 1.4 million people with disabilities in Austria, which is 18.4 percent of the total population. UniCredit Bank Austria therefore considers people with disabilities to be an important customer group and, together with its disability partners myAbility, the Hilfsgemeinschaft der Blinden und Sehschwachen and the Kriegsopfer- und Behindertenverband (KOBV), conducted a representative survey among people with disabilities on how they have been during the past year and how their situation has changed during the pandemic.
80 per cent of the people with disabilities surveyed were in upright employment during the pandemic and 82 per cent said that their financial situation had not suffered as a result of the Corona crisis. Nevertheless, 45 percent of respondents felt that their overall situation worsened as a result of the crisis. The main reasons for this were lack of social contacts, psychological stress and lack of leisure and cultural activities. People with disabilities felt the corona-related restrictions more than the rest of the population. Mouth-nose protection, distance rules, increased self-protection and intolerance were the main challenges.
“From my point of view, it is particularly important to make barriers of this kind visible to people with disabilities and to name them, because only if we are aware of these barriers can we work to remove them,” says Robert Zadrazil, CEO of UniCredit Bank Austria.
And Gregor Demblin, founder of myAbility, Austria's leading social enterprise, which promotes an equal opportunity society and helps companies to use the potential of people with disabilities as customers and employees, adds: “We at myAbility are particularly pleased that a large company like UniCredit Bank Austria is actively reaching out to people with disabilities and asking them how they have been during the pandemic, so we have actively supported the implementation of this survey”.
Corona infrastructure often not barrier-free
And Demblin continues: “For people with disabilities, there were additional barriers due to the Corona measures that someone who does not have this limitation might not even think of: for example, lip-reading was impossible due to the wearing of masks. In addition, the measures that were quickly put in place and the infrastructure that was built to combat the pandemic often neglected to take accessibility into account.”
For example, the “Schnupfenboxen” set up for test purposes were not barrier-free, waiting times for necessary doctor and treatment appointments had increased dramatically, for blind and visually impaired people the already challenging task of moving around while maintaining safety distances was made even more difficult, and the lack of opportunities for movement and isolation made the physical and mental conditions of people with disabilities particularly worse. Therefore, Demblin demands for the future “that even with such rapid solutions, the requirements of people with disabilities are taken into consideration so that solutions are found for all.”
Online services on the rise since Corona
All online offers, especially online banking and advisory services, but also online shopping in general, were used significantly more often by people with disabilities than before the Covid-19 crisis. Martin Gölles, Head of Market Research at UniCredit Bank Austria, points out: “65 percent of the people with disabilities surveyed made greater use of online shopping services. 92 percent of those surveyed use online banking and will continue to do so in the future. 65 percent of all respondents and 74 percent of UniCredit Bank Austria customers also want to make use of online advice in the future.”
Furthermore, digital conversations between relationship managers and private customers in the communication centre of Bank Austria Internetbanking 24You or in mobile banking increased by +220 per cent last year, i.e. tripled.
“During the lockdowns we saw that our investments in accessibility and digitalisation benefit not only people with disabilities, but all of us,” says Robert Zadrazil. “Because during the lockdown we were all restricted in our mobility and it was not advisable for anyone to come to the branch for banking services.”
Home office is here to stay
Almost all companies in Austria (93 percent) offered home office during the pandemic and a good two-thirds of respondents took advantage of this offer. A good half of the respondents felt well supported by their employer in setting up the home office, but 10 percent did not receive any support at all from their companies. However, 50 per cent of respondents would prefer a mix of office and home working hours in the future.
“This survey confirms our belief that a balanced mix of working in the office with colleagues and from home is the preferred model for success,” says Zadrazil. “We already offered the possibility of remote work before the crisis, also for our 288 employees with disabilities. Now we have already set the course for the voluntary use of home office to remain an integral part of our work culture to a greater extent in the future.”
Gregor Demblin points out that “it is of utmost importance for us to highlight the barriers for people with disabilities, to raise awareness and thus to initiate a social and economic change towards more participation, equal opportunities and accessibility. This is one of our main concerns that we are fighting for.”
And Robert Zadrazil concludes: “The results of this survey underline very clearly for me how important it was to tackle the topic of digitalisation of our services and our ways of working at an early stage and to put it on our agenda with full commitment. Especially during this crisis, we have all benefited greatly from this.”
Enquiries
UniCredit Bank Austria Press Office
Volker Moser, tel.: +43 (0)5 0505-52854
Email: volker.moser@unicreditgroup.at