Essential workers still feel undervalued. Why hasn't more changed?

Just a few years ago, it seemed that frontline workers — from nurses and plumbers, to grocers and baristas — were finally getting the recognition they deserved for providing essential services to the public. But according to this workforce, employers continue to fall short. 

In its 2024 Global Culture Report, workforce management software company O.C. Tanner surveyed 42,000 employees and leaders from 27 countries and identified that 80% of the global workforce spends less than 40% of their workday at their desk, or lacks regular access to workplace communication tools like email or Slack in their day-to-day duties. This means surgeons and pilots as well as delivery drivers and waiters would fall into the same category. But despite the variety of professions, there was still plenty of agreement on just how poorly they're being treated at work. 

Most of this workforce feel undervalued and dismissed by their employers: 50% report that the organization treats them as expendable and 40% feel they are viewed as inferior by their in-office colleagues. For many, that disconnect is due to the fact they're unable to engage with their organization on equal footing with traditional office workers, a point only emphasized by the fact that they don't typically use technology to communicate their contributions or prove their performance, explains Gary Beckstrand, VP at O.C. Tanner and author of the report. 

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"This group is disconnected from critical channels of communication, and the visibility and opportunity that comes through those [channels]," he says. "Consequently, they often feel isolated, disconnected and a bit separate. They see themselves very differently from others in their organization."

Yet little is expected to change: According to O.C. Tanner, only 8% of executives say increasing support for these employees is a priority for CEOs. Beckstrand notes that frontline workers generally aren't invested in as a group, despite the essential part they play in a business' ability to operate. In fact, only 45% say their organization supports them in developing new skills, compared to 69% of corporate workers. On top of that, frontline workers likely have less flexibility around when and where they work, eliminating another source of support corporate employees gained during the pandemic. Just thirty-five percent of frontline workers feel they have the freedom to take time away from work for personal errands, compared to 58% of corporate workers. 

Compounded with the lack of flexibility and career development opportunities and communication and engagement tools, frontline workers are bound to feel like their organization doesn't care about them, underlines Beckstrand. However, if frontline employees feel more valued by their organization, they are more likely to be engaged in their work by 674%, potentially upping productivity and retention rates. 

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Employers need to consider their communication channels, flexibility policies and pay if they want to meaningfully impact how these workers feel, advises Beckstrand. Notably, about one-third of frontline workers have more than one job to meet financial needs, while 40% have borrowed money from family or friends in the past year to pay bills. It's worth questioning whether these employees are being paid fairly for their contributions to the company's bottom line or if they are still being paid the bare minimum.

Beckstrand also asks employers to consider if their benefits are truly accessible to their non-corporate workers. For example, even if a company has a healthcare facility at its headquarters, unless their frontline workers have flexible hours carved out for them, they can't actually use it, Beckstrand points out.

"They may have access, but we're not enabling that access," he says. "Sometimes we assume this group has access but limitations, set schedules, other requirements of the job to be on-site, makes a difference."

Read more: After COVID, this healthcare worker quit her full-time job to escape burnout

Beckstrand advises employers to rethink how they approach leadership too, moving away from simply giving directions and evaluating performance to mentoring their team and sharing information about the company's goals and concerns. Every employee is worth investing in, regardless of how and where they work — and employers need to make that clear in 2024, says Beckstrand.

"If there's a silver lining from the pandemic, it's that celebrating and recognizing these workers' efforts can make a huge difference," he says. "But unfortunately, we were quick to go back to the way things were."