Droves of “deskless workers” — i.e., essential workers who are unable to perform their jobs remotely or within a hybrid environment — may still be leaving their jobs by the start of the new year. A recent survey from Boston Consulting Group (BCG) uncovered why they are on this tack, providing business leaders with the necessary intelligence to respond accordingly and stave off a potential labor crisis.BCG had surveyed more than 7,000 essential workers, generally employees who operate in non-office settings, across industries in Australia, France, Germany, India, Japan, the U.K. and the U.S. The survey revealed that more than one-third of these employees are considering quitting their jobs in the next six months.
Essential workers make up more than three-quarters of the global workforce. The work they perform is vital, as evidenced during the peak of the pandemic when many businesses shut down and these employees remained on the front lines, enabling the global economy to plug along.
Of the seven nations surveyed, Japan is the most at risk of losing essential workers as they were found to have the least attachment to their jobs. And while the U.S. is one of the surveyed countries with a lower share of essential workers at risk of leaving, in May there were over 11 million job openings in the U.S.; another 4.3 million Americans quit their jobs during that month alone.
As a result, businesses across all sectors around the globe are struggling to find workers. These widespread labor shortages make a company’s employee retention rate more important than ever, as higher turnover leads t …