Technologies promoting the employability of workers with special needs in Industry 5.0: A systematic review

This systematic review focuses on the technologies promoting the employability of workers with special needs in Industry 5.0. The analysis was conducted based on the guidelines of PRISMA method. "Workers with special needs" refers to workers with disabilities and ageing workers. The critical analysis of selected studies was based on three different categories: the categorization of the records based on their design and evaluation; categorization of the records based on their sample characteristics; categorization of the records based on the type of technology they employed. Under the latter category, several subcategories emerged as a part of the critical analysis: the use of collaborative robots - or cobots-, extended reality, application technology, assistive technology and others. The category of sample characteristics consisted of various subcategories: workers with motor disabilities, sensory disabilities, combination of motor and sensory disabilities, combination of motor and cognitive disabilities, multiple disabilities and finally ageing workers. The design of the studies were categorized based on whether they benefited from a quantitative, qualitative or mixed- methods approach. Further subcategories detailed the nature of their evaluative methods such as the use of questionnaires, case studies or experiments. These categories enabled the review to be both thorough and precise. Consequently, reliable conclusions were able to be driven regarding how, to whom and for which purposes these technologies were employed.