Three in five (59%) ‘deskless’ workers, including care staff, say a ‘pandemic hangover’ is stifling growth in the business they work for.

In the research by training provider Cloud Assess, a third of workers (30%) said their business was less efficient as a result of their Covid-19 response.

Rob Bright, chief executive and founder of Cloud Assess, said: “Whilst the pandemic did lead to positive changes for some businesses, our research shows the extent to which deskless industries, in particular, are being held back by lockdown hangovers. Clearly, UK industry is facing a major challenge when it comes to staff engagement and satisfaction, with many craving in-person interactions which employers have failed to resume since the pandemic.”

Over a third (37%) of workers said their employee experience was worse now than pre-2020. The most common reasons for this included staff shortages (51%), less in-person training (37%), worse communication (36%), less training across the board (32%) and fewer opportunities for development (26%).

Over half (53%) felt less motivated, 32% were unhappy at work, and 31% were less productive. One in five said they were considering leaving their company in the next 12 months, whilst 17% suggested they might leave the industry they work in altogether. 

The research found that 85% of businesses had adopted new policies for their deskless workers as a result of the pandemic, 80% of which were continuing some of these practices today. 

The new policies which are most likely to have continued include calls hosted on Zoom, online training, fewer meetings and fewer site visits from management. Some of these changes were supported by workers. For example, 76% supported the move towards video calls, rather than phone calls, while 61% believed having fewer meetings was having a positive impact on the business they work for.

The activities that were most likely to have been dropped included team parties, in-person meetings, and in-person training. The research found that 84% of workers would like to see at least some of these activities return. In-person training was the activity that most workers would like to see resumed.