Over half of businesses facing pandemic hangover

According to new research, 59 per cent of workers in ‘deskless’ industries believe the ongoing effect of the pandemic is having a negative impact on the operations of the business they work for

The study found that employee satisfaction is also continuing to suffer in the aftermath of the pandemic. Over a third (37 per cent) of workers state that their employee experience is worse now than pre-2020. The most common reasons for this included staff shortages (51 per cent), less in-person training (37 per cent), worse communication (36 per cent), less training across the board (32 per cent), and fewer opportunities for development (26 per cent).

 This is having devastating consequences for the UK’s deskless workforce with half of those surveyed reporting feeling less motivated while one in five are even considering leaving their company in the next 12 months.  A further 17 per cent suggest they might leave the industry they work in altogether, posing a significant risk for those industries already facing skills shortages.

The research, which was conducted by Cloud Assess, also analysed the specific policy changes that are driving these ongoing challenges.

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 are supported by workers. For example, 76 per cent support the move towards video calls, rather than phone calls, whilst 61 per cent believe having fewer meetings is having a positive impact on the business they work for.

However, as well as taking up new policies, almost two-thirds of businesses stopped some activities entirely because of the pandemic and have not resumed them since, leading to dissatisfaction and concern amongst employees. 

Interestingly, in-person training was found to be the activity that most workers would like to see resumed with almost three quarters (73 per cent) of the employees claiming that the training they are offered by their employer has been affected by the pandemic.

Rob Bright, CEO 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.