{"id":875,"date":"2025-06-25T16:43:14","date_gmt":"2025-06-25T15:43:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sense.hr\/blog\/?p=875"},"modified":"2025-06-25T16:43:15","modified_gmt":"2025-06-25T15:43:15","slug":"how-the-tech-world-forgot-about-2-7-billion-workers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/senseworkplace.com\/blog\/how-the-tech-world-forgot-about-2-7-billion-workers\/","title":{"rendered":"How the Tech World Forgot About 2.7 Billion Workers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

There\u2019s a phenomenon that\u2019s baffled me for at least 15 years. And it\u2019s that there\u2019s a massive cohort of nearly three billion workers out there, who most technology companies seem to sort of just\u2026 well, ignore. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

They\u2019re called \u201cdeskless workers\u201d, and they make up around 80% of the global workforce<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You probably know exactly who these people are, because there\u2019s a 4 in 5 chance you\u2019re one of them. But if, like me, you\u2019re one of the few who scratches a living by mashing buttons on a keyboard, I\u2019m going to describe them for you. And then, once we\u2019re all on the same page, I\u2019m going to tell you why only 1% of tech is being developed for this huge majority of people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, what is a deskless worker?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019re all familiar with \u201chybrid workers\u201d \u2013 it\u2019s just a fancy way of saying \u201cpeople who work from home sometimes\u201d. But deskless workers are different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Josh Bersin describes them as \u201cthe most overlooked workforce segment\u201d<\/a>. But perhaps a more practical description would be \u201cworkers who don\u2019t use traditional office setups or tools.\u201d For example, bus drivers, nurses, waiters, engineers, cleaners, cashiers\u2026 the list goes on. Or, in other words, deskless workers are the real people who do real jobs and make the world go round.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s not to say that people who sit at desks all day are not important \u2013 many of them are! And yes, some of them even do \u201creal jobs\u201d. But without our deskless workforce, society would crumble – and that\u2019s the reason I\u2019ve been so surprised by the sheer lack of investment into good, useful technology systems for this massively overlooked group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deskless workers rely on personal apps and terrible workarounds<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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\u2019s definitely not due to a lack of need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But unlike office workers such as myself, who get access to a huge range of tools to help with all this \u2013 think Zoom, Trello, Jira, Microsoft Office \u2013 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/a>, 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Put simply, the lack of tech development for this group of workers means that for most, there\u2019s simply no dedicated system in place that can solve their problems properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Isn\u2019t it HR\u2019s job to make sure teams are equipped?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

So, who\u2019s at fault for this? There may not be much technology out there, but there is some. <\/em>So why aren\u2019t companies implementing it? Well, some are\u2026 but many aren\u2019t. And as with most things in life, nobody is willing to accept the blame.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are many who will say that it\u2019s HR\u2019s job to make sure all teams are properly tooled-up. After all, amongst other responsibilities, HR is usually tasked with: <\/p>\n\n\n\n