"Accomodations" in this case could be something as simple as noise cancelling headphones for employees working in an open plan office. Or a woman wearing a sweater because the office is cold. We don't tend to think of these as a disability measure because the problems are obviously caused by the setup of the work environment.
Expecting people to suffer hardships and learn to work harder instead of using simple tools to improve their productivity is just bizarrely cruel.
People should buy sweaters and headphones for themselves then. Accommodation in this context references something an employer must explicitly provide for employees (usually by law). Are you suggesting that employers need to hand out headphones and sweaters?
OP referenced benefits from accommodations for employees who aren't recognized as disabled, so it seems pretty clear we're outside of the legal framework for workers with disabilities.
And, generally, they do buy those things for themselves. Though plenty of employers will allow employees to expense these sorts of things, along with tools like ergonomic keyboards. They're cheap, in comparison to the cost of employees.
Hell, maybe that's the example I should have led with. Some non-disabling health conditions might put someone at a heightened risk for carpal tunnel syndrome. Ergonomic tools seems like a no brainer, compared to hardship and learning to work harder.
The degree to which employers are willing to accommodate employees (with expendable benefits, etc.) is directly correlated with the expendability of said employees. If you're a 200k/yr programmer with a 60k cost to hire, you can expense whatever you want. If you're a 20k/yr cashier then you cannot. Are you suggesting this should change? If yes, can you elaborate as to why?
Accommodation in this context references something an employer must explicitly provide for employees (usually by law).
I said no such thing. Just making the observation that if people fail to change adequately to keep their job, there is probably an underlying reason.
I spoke of a need for cultural change in details like how we feed ourselves. You making this about an expectation that it is entirely on employers to cater to the needs of whiny, incompetent losers or something is just that: You framing it that way. I did not frame it that way.
For open plan offices? Sure. One of the reasons open plan offices are popular is because they offload costs like this to the staff. Maybe there needs to be a cash allowance for that kind of thing, as prefs for stuff like sweaters and headphones are pretty variable.
Expecting people to suffer hardships and learn to work harder instead of using simple tools to improve their productivity is just bizarrely cruel.