Deskless workers: technology and training to connect them

What are deskless workers?

Deskless workers are employees who do not have a fixed workstation in front of a computer. They work in stores, warehouses, hospitals, factories, construction sites, delivery routes, or any environment where a desk simply doesn’t exist. They account for approximately 80% of the global workforce: more than 2.7 billion people, according to McKinsey’s Deskless Not Voiceless report (2022).

For decades, this group has been the forgotten segment of corporate digital transformation. Companies invested in tools for their office employees — ERPs, intranets, productivity suites — while frontline workers continued operating with paper, whiteboards, or WhatsApp. Today, that gap is one of the main challenges in sectors such as retail, logistics, hospitality, and healthcare.

Sectors and profiles: who are deskless workers?

Deskless workers are not a homogeneous profile. We find them across very different sectors, with different needs, but sharing one common denominator: the mobile phone is their only digital point of contact with the company.

Here are the sectors where this profile is most prevalent and the specific challenges of each:

The 5 key challenges of deskless workers

Understanding the real obstacles this group faces is the first step toward designing a technology strategy that actually works. These are the five challenges that consistently emerge across organisations in all sectors:

1. Digital disconnection

Most deskless workers have no access to the corporate intranet, company email, or standard training platforms. Corporate tools are designed for the desktop, not for mobile. The result: information that never arrives, procedure changes communicated by word of mouth, and employees who feel off the company’s radar.

2. Inaccessible training

Traditional classroom or virtual training models are not compatible with rotating shifts, mobility, and the work pace of this profile. According to Axonify’s State of the Deskless Workforce report (2023), 45% of deskless workers say that inadequate training would be a reason to leave their job. Yet many companies continue to offer them the same formats used for their office employees.

3. Poor internal communication

Without a mobile-accessible corporate channel, information circulates through informal channels (WhatsApp groups, voice messages) or simply doesn’t reach people at all. This creates information asymmetries, operational errors, and a widespread feeling of being out of the loop.

4. Low visibility and recognition

Frontline employees rarely appear in recognition initiatives, company communications, or professional development programmes. This invisibility has a direct impact on engagement and turnover.

5. High turnover

Retail, logistics, and hospitality lead labour turnover rates across Europe. Part of this problem is linked to the lack of engagement, training, and sense of belonging that digital disconnection makes worse. According to Boston Consulting Group estimates, the average cost of replacing a frontline employee ranges between €3,000 and €5,000.

Technology for deskless workers: what tools do they need?

Not all corporate technology is designed with this profile in mind. The tools that work share three characteristics: they are mobile-first (designed for mobile, not adapted to it), they are intuitive (no training required to use them), and they are fast (the employee can consume or send information in under two minutes).

Here are the main types of solutions available:

Training and communication: the combination that makes the difference

Most companies approach training and internal communication as two separate initiatives, with different tools and different teams. For desk-based employees, that separation is manageable. For frontline workers, it’s a problem: they don’t have the time or context to manage multiple applications during their working day.

The organisations that are most successfully connecting their deskless teams are those that integrate internal communication, microlearning, and recognition into a single mobile environment. The advantages of this approach are clear:

• Higher adoption: one app is easier to install, learn, and maintain than three.
• Better context: the employee can receive a notification about a procedure change and immediately access the training module that explains how to apply it.
• Unified data: L&D and HR managers have a complete view of each employee’s engagement, training, and communications.
• Lower turnover: sense of belonging improves when employees feel continuously informed, recognised, and trained.

This model — also known as an employee experience platform for frontline teams — is exactly the approach being adopted by the companies leading the digital transformation of their deskless workforce.

Clarel is a great example of how a retail company can connect and train its frontline teams simultaneously across hundreds of points of sale. With isEazy Engage, Clarel was able to roll out mobile training and communication across its entire store network, improving employee engagement and reducing the time needed to update training content. Discover more success stories →

How to choose the right technology for your deskless team

The market for frontline worker solutions has grown significantly in recent years. Choosing well requires having clear evaluation criteria before you start comparing vendors. Here are the most relevant ones:

• Genuinely mobile-first: is it designed for mobile, or is it a desktop tool adapted for smaller screens? The difference in user experience is enormous.
• Ease of adoption: can an employee use the tool without any prior training? The onboarding time for the tool itself is a key indicator.
• Content in the flow of work: does it allow employees to receive information and training exactly when they need it, without stepping outside their work context?
• Analytics and visibility: can managers see which employees have received information, completed training, or participated in recognition initiatives?
• Integration with existing systems: does it connect with the ERP, scheduling system, or HRIS the company already uses?
• Multichannel communication: does it support push notifications, group chats, news, forms, and surveys all within the same platform?

Platform comparison: what type of solution do you need?

Not all organisations need the same solution. This overview summarises the main differences between the three types of platform most widely adopted for deskless teams:

isEazy Engage: the platform designed to connect your entire workforce

Connecting, training, and aligning frontline workers is not a matter of willingness. It is a tool problem. And that tool needs to be designed for them from the start, not adapted afterward.

isEazy Engage brings together internal communication, training, operations, and tracking in a single app, all accessible from the employee’s mobile phone, with no need for a corporate email address or a computer at the workplace.

From headquarters, you can launch a campaign, assign tasks to each store with specific instructions, verify execution with photo evidence, and know in real time which points of sale are aligned and which are not, without calls or endless email threads.

For employees, the experience is just as simple: they receive the information they need, complete their training in 3- to 5-minute learning bites, and can confirm they have read messages, respond to surveys, or access the document manager even offline.

And for operations managers, sales leaders, and managers, the analytics dashboard shows the progress of each store, area, or region in real time, with a flexible reporting system that makes it easy to spot execution issues and act before they affect sales.

Want to see how it would work in your company? Request a demo and we’ll show you a use case tailored to your industry and your team.