Work from home guidelines are being reintroduced in England as part of the government’s Plan B guidance to curb the spread of the Omicron COVID-19 variant. But what about the many workers for whom work from home is not an option?
Deskless workers, from drivers to retail workers, scientists to manufacturers, make up 80% of the global workforce. Steve Tonks, SVP EMEA at WorkForce Software, explains what employers can do to protect the deskless majority, without compromising their employee experience.
“We are once again discussing how to transition to a remote setup, how to mitigate burnout with longer, lonelier hours at home, and if employees’ work-from-home setups support ergonomics – yet these conversations focus almost exclusively on white collar workers who have this option,” Tonks says. “We need to remember the 2.7 billion deskless workers around the world who always work in-person – often in some of the most taxing roles.”
Tonks continues, “A strong tech platform rooted in a consumer-grade experience can help employees feel connected to their employers through regular communications, roster shifts effectively to reduce overtime and mitigate burnout and make the process of flagging when a team-member is sick easier.”
“These are all tasks that are easy for white collar workers with corporate emails and systems designed to support their needs, but present challenges when you’re one of thousands of workers at a manufacturing plant or a hospital system.”