How the Tech World Forgot About 2.7 Billion Workers

There’s a phenomenon that’s baffled me for at least 15 years. And it’s that there’s a massive cohort of nearly three billion workers out there, who most technology companies seem to sort of just… well, ignore. 

They’re called “deskless workers”, and they make up around 80% of the global workforce. 

You probably know exactly who these people are, because there’s a 4 in 5 chance you’re one of them. But if, like me, you’re one of the few who scratches a living by mashing buttons on a keyboard, I’m going to describe them for you. And then, once we’re all on the same page, I’m going to tell you why only 1% of tech is being developed for this huge majority of people.

So, what is a deskless worker?

We’re all familiar with “hybrid workers” – it’s just a fancy way of saying “people who work from home sometimes”. But deskless workers are different.

Josh Bersin describes them as “the most overlooked workforce segment”. But perhaps a more practical description would be “workers who don’t use traditional office setups or tools.” For example, bus drivers, nurses, waiters, engineers, cleaners, cashiers… the list goes on. Or, in other words, deskless workers are the real people who do real jobs and make the world go round.

That’s not to say that people who sit at desks all day are not important – many of them are! And yes, some of them even do “real jobs”. But without our deskless workforce, society would crumble – and that’s the reason I’ve been so surprised by the sheer lack of investment into good, useful technology systems for this massively overlooked group.

Deskless workers rely on personal apps and terrible workarounds

So, what do I mean when I say that these workers are being overlooked? Well, deskless workers only benefit from around 1% of new tech development. Which is shocking, because it’s definitely not due to a lack of need.

Just like us desk-jockeys, deskless workers still need to communicate, track projects, swap shifts, book holidays, etc. In fact, they probably do more of it than the rest of us!

But unlike office workers such as myself, who get access to a huge range of tools to help with all this – think Zoom, Trello, Jira, Microsoft Office – deskless workers have very few options at their disposal. In fact, most deskless teams rely on informal or workaround tools, such as WhatsApp communication on-the-job, paper schedules taped to walls, word-of-mouth shift swaps, phone calls to managers, PA or radio systems for redeployment, and so on and so forth.

One nurse actually told me a few years ago that she was relying on so many personal mobile phones to stay in touch with different colleagues, team members and supervisors, that if she bent down to pick something up, they would all come tumbling out of her pockets.

In most deskless teams, communication is still face-to-face, or at best cascaded through line managers with fragmented or ad-hoc digital touchpoints. 44% of deskless teams use paper at least half the time, 59% rely on personal messaging apps to receive work instructions, and 97% believe that teams are unable to be autonomous enough to be fully effective.

Put simply, the lack of tech development for this group of workers means that for most, there’s simply no dedicated system in place that can solve their problems properly.

Isn’t it HR’s job to make sure teams are equipped?

So, who’s at fault for this? There may not be much technology out there, but there is some. So why aren’t companies implementing it? Well, some are… but many aren’t. And as with most things in life, nobody is willing to accept the blame.

There are many who will say that it’s HR’s job to make sure all teams are properly tooled-up. After all, amongst other responsibilities, HR is usually tasked with: 

• Equipping employees to do their job safely, fairly and effectively 
• Partnering with IT, facilities or operations to define what those tools should be
• Overseeing policies, budgets, and onboarding processes
• Advocating for equity of access 

But there are a bunch of reasons this doesn’t quite reach the deskless workforce properly.

For example, physical tools and systems are often seen as an “operational” issue that HR doesn’t need to bother itself with – after all, ops knows what their teams need… and HR and Ops hate each other, so why would they talk unless they absolutely had to?

But what’s more, HR often fails to see that equity of access stems beyond the handful of protected characteristics such as disability or religion, and should span to all types of diversity – including the deskless roles that require different ways to access company tools.

And for this reason, there’s normally a disconnect between HR in their office, and deskless teams at the coal face. Sure, HR will implement a digital HRIS and store everybody’s holiday entitlements, contracts, and more. But have they considered that most deskless workers don’t even have a company email address, let alone a device that’s actually capable of logging into this system?

HR has a difficult and thankless job. You won’t ever catch me bad-mouthing the profession. But if you expect HR to be advocating for more deskless technology, then you’re probably living in some colourful utopia that you invented. OK, it’s true that some HR teams are more modern and forward-thinking, and are trying to look at the organisation holistically – but most don’t have the time or capacity to go that far.

So should it be ops who finds these tools?

If it’s not HR’s responsibility to put these tools in place, then that leaves a prime suspect – the operations team. And in many ways, I’d say that yes, it’s the job of operational leaders to find and implement technology for their deskless teams.

But in far too many cases, they don’t. Not because they don’t care, and not even because they’re unaware… but because they’re either unfamiliar with the technology landscape,, or they’re too busy working their own hands to the bone trying to support their frontline teams. 

What’s more, this BCG report highlights how ops teams often can’t communicate via traditional communication channels – making it less likely for ops leaders to be engaging with key company stakeholders or getting involved with big decisions. BCG also reported that field managers are “rarely or never consulted on strategic business opportunities” – meaning the people who know the challenges on the ground don’t have the influence at the board level.

When it’s nobody’s job, nothing gets done

We’re getting now to one of the major reasons there’s a lack of tech for deskless teams – and that’s the lack of people able to take responsibility for buying it.

Because no single function truly owns the digital experience of deskless workers — HR cares but doesn’t understand their needs, ops understands their needs but it’s not really their call, and IT is only focused on security and compliance – no one pushes for change. And when no one owns a problem, no one advocates for the budget to fix it.

That lack of ownership leads directly to lower perceived demand for deskless-friendly tech. Not because the demand doesn’t exist, but because it isn’t being captured, documented, or championed. There’s no Jira ticket titled “Our retail teams can’t swap shifts without texting their manager at 10pm.” There’s no roadmap item labeled “Fix the fact that 70% of our workforce has never seen a company memo.”

And so nobody wants to invest, because the opportunity is invisible. The perceived lack of demand means that nothing gets built. 

We have a tendency to build images after our own likeness

But by far, one of the biggest contributing factors to this massive lack of technology for frontline workers, is that of designer bias. Or maybe investor bias. Or developer bias. I don’t know which one – probably all of them, and then some. 

But the point here is that confirmation bias is real, and it exists everywhere. Including in the designing, developing, and deploying of workforce management software or hardware.

It’s super common in UX design, for example – experts have found that designers tend to “exclude alternative options”, instead favouring solutions aligned with their own assumptions. Or in other words, they design something they like, without really thinking about what the end user likes.

And the crux is this: workforce management software and hardware is not being built by deskless workers. In most cases, it’s being invested in, designed by, developed by, marketed by, and sold by, none other than the 20% of workers who sit at a desk and mash their keyboard all day.

And that’s really the big reason why the workforce management technology world is flooded with technology that mostly suits the 20% minority.

So what’s next?

The world has spent the last three decades building workplace technology for the 20% minority, and it shows – the overwhelming majority of the workforce are still managing shifts via whiteboards, booking leave via text message, and finding out company news on the grapevine (if at all). 

• Deskless workers are 80% of the workforce, but they receive just 1% of enterprise software investment
  
• They use personal devices and ad hoc hacks to get work done
  
• No one owns their digital experience, so demand is never formalised
  
• And worst of all, we’ve built a tech ecosystem shaped by our own biases, not theirs

But despite all that, I am also available in flavours other than “doom and gloom” – and I’m happy to see things gradually starting to change.

The COVID-19 pandemic put frontline roles in the spotlight — and reminded us just how essential they are. Since then, we’ve seen a wave of new thinking (and funding) aimed at serving this cohort: simpler tools, mobile-first workflows, instant access to information, and software that doesn’t assume your job starts with an email address.

But plenty more needs to be done, which is why we’re building Sense Workplace with deskless workers firmly in mind. They don’t need “more tech” – they need the right tech! The kind that understands how they work, recognises their different contracts and patterns, fits around their day, and helps them stay connected without ever needing a fixed work station.

So watch this space, because we’ve got a lot to say on this matter!