Here’s Why Deskless Workers Need Better Tech In 2022
While remote work has been a recent trend as of late thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a specific type of worker group who hasn’t been given much attention, yet they should. Deskless workers, or those who are essentially always on-the-job lack many of the tools and resources an employee would otherwise have if working at a desk or home office. More than 2.7 billion workers worldwide are categorized as deskless employees. However, despite making up 80% of the global workforce, deskless workers lack the necessary technology needed for a more efficient work flow. Jacob Waern, founder & CEO at eduMe, shares a great read on Forbes explaining the importance of this niche in the workforce. This lack of tools should be available to deskless workers, and it should be available now. While you can name a laundry list of the basic essentials (i.e. a work laptop, mobile phone, etc), Waern does note that this immediate transition of technological availability for deskless workers is not a simple task. In his Forbes article, Waern shares three criteria which are nonnegotiable when it comes to empowering adoption and ongoing use of mobile technology among deskless demographics:
- Easily Accessible. “92% of users who forget their login information simply leave the site or app they’re trying to access. Ensure that access to learning content is as frictionless as possible. One way is to embed it into your native app.”
- Delivered At The User’s Point Of Need. “If training doesn’t fit into a deskless worker’s flow of work, it won’t be adopted long-term. Lean on triggered notifications and workforce communication tools to intelligently deliver relevant and timely content.”
- Short-Form Content. “The microlearning method isn’t just beneficial for user engagement and long-term knowledge retention, it also caters to deskless workers’ tight schedules. Break training content down into two-to-five-minute bursts to retain learners’ attention.”
Remote workers as well as deskless workers are fast becoming the majority of today’s workforce. Just like remote workers who had to immediate set up their machines and networks at home, these on-the-job deskless employees need the right resources to their job as well.
