Deputy: Shift worker turnover reaches 80% in the UK and US

In most conversations about the current and future of work, the focus is on salaried workers sitting behind a desk.

But, in reality, around half of the workforce are hourly, deskless workers who work shifts in sectors like retail, hospitality, services and healthcare.

These sectors all play a crucial part in the global economy, and employers in these sectors face significant and unique challenges.

Recent research by workforce management company Deputy found that employers in the US, the UK and Australia are still struggling with attracting and retaining talent.

Deputy’s analysis into 172,000 workers, 1.6 million shifts and 14.6 million hours worked in the UK in June 2024 found that there was a 79% average decline in new hires across the four sectors (retail, hospitality, services and healthcare) studied.

The greatest decline was in services (82.5%).

In the US, new hires also reduced significantly, with the greatest drop in healthcare (80%).

Deputy’s investigation into 271,000 US workers, 2.5 million shifts and 18 million hours in the last month also looked into employee turnover rates – it found that retail saw the largest drop (54%), followed by hospitality (51%), healthcare (43%) and services (39%).

In the UK, turnover varied widely; from 3% for retail to 67% for healthcare.

In Australia (where Deputy analyzed data from 657,000 workers, 33 million hours and 4.8 million shifts), the new hire figures were similar to the UK – and the greatest decline (82.5%) was also in services.

Turnover in Australia was similarly spread to the US, but with services leading the way (62.5%).

While Deputy’s US report stated that these issues with finding and retaining talent “might be indicative of broader economic challenges or a strategic shift towards maintaining existing workforce levels rather than expanding”, these talent attraction and retention challenges weren’t the only thing concern that Deputy’s data found.

Deputy’s CEO Silvija Martincevic tells UNLEASH in an exclusive interview, across the three markets, “the workforce is experiencing increased volatility of shifts and hours being scheduled and worked”.

In the UK, US and Australia, the number of shifts and hours worked decreased – the good news is that in the three markets there was an improvement in predictability of shifts and hours for workers.

“These regions are also dealing with supply chain disruptions and a cost of living crisis, which is contributing to economically challenging business environments”, adds Martincevic.

This confirms recent data from Blink, a frontline workforce app, that found that hourly workers are 33% more anxious than their desk-based counterparts – and a lot of this stress is financial and linked to the cost of living crisis.

HR, it’s time to step up to support hourly workers

Given how important hourly workers are to the global economy, it is high time that these deskless workers get the support they need at work.

Deputy’s Martincevic tells UNLEASH that part of the issue is that “hourly work is often perceived as ‘dead-end’ work” – it is something that people don’t do forever – but to retain people long-term, employers with deskless workers need to be offered “clear progression paths and training can attract and retain more talent”.

This also helps to create stability for workers.

Martincevic adds that it is also time for companies to rethink pay for hourly workers, particularly increasing pay for overtime or weekend work. This is not only the right thing to do in this economy, but it can also make sure employers can cover all their shifts.

Deputy’s data shows that pay only increased slightly in the UK, US and Australia in June 2024.

Martincevic concludes: “Another strategy we’ve seen work well is ensuring shift workers feel as valued as head office employees.

Implementing the right technology and tools to manage scheduling, onboarding, reviews, and attrition, along with utilizing automation tools, can free up HR managers’ time to focus on wellbeing and engagement challenges, ultimately helping to retain talent.”

HR leaders, what are you waiting for?