Deskless workforce retention in Australia: Why frontline risk is higher than you think

When we compare office-based to deskless employees it’s clear that there is a structural inequality in how employee value is experienced across environments. 

• 7.40 average value score for office-based employees
• 6.46 average value score for deskless employees 
• 44% of undervalued deskless employees likely to leave
• 38% of undervalued office employees likely to leave 

Source: Perkonomics Report 2026 

The difference is not marginal and when deskless employees feel less valued, frontline retention risk increases. 

Deskless workforces span retail, healthcare, logistics, manufacturing, hospitality and community services. These roles often involve shift work, dispersed teams and limited access to internal systems. 

Frontline employees often feel disconnected from their office counterparts both physically and mentally with a mindset of "us" and "them" when referring to colleagues.  

If communication, benefits delivery and recognition programs are built primarily around desktop access or virtual updates, frontline teams will not experience them equally.  

The Perkonomics research shows that belonging also varies. Seventy-eight percent of office-based employees say they feel they belong in their role, compared to 70% of non-office employees. 

Frontline retention challenges are often less about role type and more about infrastructure. 

The deskless workforce faces unique constraints: 

• Irregular or rotating shifts 
• Reduced autonomy over schedules 
• Limited real-time communication access 
• Fewer visible recognition moments 
• Operational pressure and customer-facing demands 

If employee engagement initiatives are not adapted to these realities, they won’t land with equal impact. 

Benefits and financial wellbeing support play an important role in perceived value. The Perkonomics findings reveal that 68% of office-based employees say their benefits package makes them feel valued, compared to just 40% of non-office workers. 

That gap should concern leaders responsible for employee engagement in frontline-heavy industries. If benefits are not optimised for mobile access, shift patterns or dispersed teams, engagement will naturally decline. 

Employees assess value based on usability so if access feels difficult or disconnected from their daily routine, the perceived benefit weakens. 

Flexible working arrangements are widely recognised as a key driver of employee value. 

However, flexibility for desk-based employees often involves remote or hybrid working. For frontline teams, flexibility may depend on roster transparency, shift swaps or predictable scheduling. 

When flexibility narratives focus heavily on hybrid work, deskless employees may feel excluded from value signals. 

Frontline retention strategies must account for this difference. Equity does not mean identical policies, it really means context-aware policies. 

High frontline turnover affects more than staffing numbers. It impacts service quality, customer experience and team cohesion. When you don’t consider the employee experience for your deskless teams, recruitment and onboarding costs increase due to employee turnover and more experienced staff carry heavier loads while vacancies remain open. 

When 44% of undervalued deskless employees indicate they may leave, organisations should view this as operational risk. Reactive hiring alone cannot solve a structural employee experience issue. So here are our tips on how you can strengthen retention for your deskless workforce.  

Organisations that perform strongly in frontline retention typically adopt three principles. 

1. Mobile-first employee experience 

Wellbeing resources, benefits access and employee recognition tools that are designed for smartphones. If employees can engage without needing a desktop login, utilisation increases significantly. 

2. Consistent recognition across environments 

Recognition programs ensure frontline achievements are visible across the organisation. Automated milestone recognition can also prevent and oversight in dispersed teams. 

3. Leadership visibility and trust 

Managers in deskless environments are equipped to reinforce value signals regularly. Trust and autonomy are embedded in day-to-day leadership behaviours, not limited to policy statements. 

These shifts reduce the divide between head office and frontline employee experience. 

If you analysed employee value scores by environment today, would your frontline teams report the same experience as your office teams or, would the deskless divide be visible immediately? 

In 2026, employee retention in Australia will depend not just on competitive pay or strong branding, but on how consistently organisations design experience for every environment. 

Because value cannot depend on location. 

Frontline employees deserve the same clarity, support and recognition as those behind a desk.