Bringing career growth to the front line: Gloat’s new AI-powered tool for deskless employees

Creating a solution for deskless employees wasn’t as simple as expanding access to the talent marketplaces that we had already been designing for corporate teams. Since frontline employees have very different day-to-day experiences, demands, and responsibilities than their colleagues, we knew we needed to create something specifically for them that was tailored to their needs. And to do that, we had to develop a clearer picture of the challenges they face.

Here’s what we found:

• Turnover is high; in hospitality, the annual turnover rate reached 130.7% this year
• There are 2.7 billion frontline workers worldwide, accounting for as much as 80% of the global workforce
• One third of frontline employees don’t receive any formal training
• Only 22% of frontline employees feel connected to their colleagues
• Only 19% of frontline employees feel listened to and heard

All the statistics pointed to the same truth: our frontline employees deserve better. They perform some of the most crucial business functions, but they’re missing out on the networking, upskilling, and career mobility opportunities that are readily available to corporate team members. And managers are missing out on the unique perspectives and insights that deskless employees can bring to the table by working so closely with their customers and products.

A lack of connectivity is the common denominator that most of these challenges have in common. So we wanted to create something that would bridge existing gaps and give frontline employees access to the training, learning opportunities, and mentors that they may have once felt cut off from.