Jobs for People with Diabetes

Diabetes is a health condition in which your blood sugar is too high and your body does not produce and use insulin as it should. This can lead to a wide range of secondary health problems and is very serious if left untreated.

There are three main types of diabetes. Type 1 is the most severe form of diabetes and it is when a person’s body does not make insulin at all and needs to take external insulin on daily basis. Type 2 diabetes is more common and it occurs when insulin is not produced enough or is not used effectively by the body. This form may be able to be controlled via diet but may also require medication. The third type is gestational diabetes, in which pregnant women develop diabetes throughout their pregnancy.

Diabetes can be a tricky condition to manage and there are lots of secondary problems that can arise due to living with diabetes. As such, people with the condition spend a lot of time and energy managing their life. Often, this leads to difficulty and stress when it comes to their work life.

On this page, we are going to explore the best jobs for people with diabetes.

 

How Can Diabetes Affect Work?

People with diabetes can struggle in work in a multitude of ways, including:

• Being frequently absent from work due to symptoms
• Needing time off for doctor’s appointments and treatment
• Experience fatigue and brain fog which affects performance
• Struggling to regulate their mood, affecting communication with others at work
• Taking longer to complete projects and deadlines due to fluctuations in health
• Missing out on social and networking events due to health problems

Diabetes can affect a person’s experience and performance at work in many different ways. It can also lead to them feeling more isolated and withdrawn from the team around them. Sometimes, diabetes may lead a person to leave their job entirely or to drop down to a lower rank or smaller contract to manage their condition.

 

How Diabetes Can Be Supported at Work

Despite these difficulties, it is entirely possible for a person with diabetes to be happy and successful at work. All it takes is the right support to be put in place to allow them to continue working without being disadvantaged by their disability.

The main way that an employer can do this is via reasonable adjustments. Reasonable adjustments are changes or modifications that can be made to a disabled person’s work and working environment to ensure that they are getting what they need at work and aren’t being left behind. What reasonable adjustments a person might benefit from will depend on their individual circumstances, however, some common options are:

• Paid transport to and from work to avoid commutes (paid by Access to Work)
• Longer breaks
• More comfortable seating arrangements
• Time off for appointments
• Exemption from certain activities, meetings and training sessions
• Longer deadlines
• Reduced workload in particularly symptomatic periods

Overall, an employer legally should make the working environment safe and accessible for their employee with diabetes. You shouldn’t be disadvantaged or pushed out of work simply because of your disability. This would be illegal discrimination.

 

Where to Find the Best Jobs with Diabetes

If you want an accessible job where you can be accommodated appropriately, check out our disability-friendly job board on Careers with Disabilities. There you can find accessible opportunities from inclusive employers all across the U.K.

Everyone deserves to thrive at work.