We need to stop putting down people who work slowly (or more slowly than we do).

I am not talking about people who are lazy and work slowly even though they could work faster. These folks are another whole animal. I am talking about people who work slowly because they are meticulous or because they have a disability of some kind.

Some people have invisible disabilities that cause them to work slowly, and these people are often the victims of bullying in the workplace (and other places) because others cannot see the disabilities that slow them down.

Even fast-food jobs are not ideal for these people, for these jobs are just that: FAST.

One such workplace where people who work slowly are often discriminated against is the scientific laboratory. In the industry, a lab worker is expected to work quickly and correctly; in other words, the employee is expected to work efficiently. A meticulous lab worker may be fired from an industrial lab if they cannot fulfill a quota of, for example, X cell transfections completed in one day. Never mind that this worker has never contaminated a vial in their career or if every single transfection they have completed has yielded wonderful results. “We are not paying you to take your time.”

Even in academic labs, pressure is often put on meticulous workers to “speed it up,” because “we only have a year and a half left on our grant. You want a job in a year and a half, don’t you?”

Such bullying and taunting is, simply put, ableist behavior.  And sadly, it is not limited to science. If you have ever scoured the job search engines while looking for employment, you have probably noticed that seemingly 80 to 90 percent of jobs advertised require candidates to “be able to thrive in a fast-paced environment.” This is not good news for the meticulous or disabled person who works slowly.

Do you know anyone who works rather slowly but regularly produces quality work? Are you that person?