The post Covid era: digitalization can close the gap between deskbound and industrial workers

Without a hybrid work scheme being a possibility , industrial workers stand in disadvantage. New solutions are being designed for deskbound workers, but digitalization has a wide range of opportunities for deskless workers too.

Some workers will never benefit from the new hybrid scheme

With the deployment of vaccines and ongoing successful vaccination campaigns happening around the world , we are slowly glancing the end of the pandemic. Different ways of going back to work are being designed, with focus on developing hybrid work schemes, that represent a great deal of challenges for companies and teams.

However, there is one type of worker who is not part of this debate and will never be: industrial deskless workers. Those who had to continue working presently during the pandemic and will continue to do so. Aside from their disadvantages regarding digitalization, the pandemic aggravated their working conditions, adding the stress of new protocols, continuous tests and a more insecure work environment. Will we let this unfair gap continue growing?

Desk & deskless workers: it seems like they work in different companies

Desk workers historically tend to have more benefits. Not just the basics, such as an email work account and a direct line of communication with the company, but the extra benefit of being involved in the day-to-day decision making process. It’s the informal meetings and hallway conversations that often give you a little more insight into what’s going on in the company. In addition, their work does not, or at least did not in a pre-Covid 19 world, have elements of risk, and they are often fully digitized to efficiently perform their work. All this does not happen with deskless workers, who work in remote locations sometimes isolated and somehow remain outside the day to day decisions of the company, despite playing a key role in its operation and revenue.

Now, how can we improve the deskless workers’ work environment, those who nowadays have seen their work affected by much? In the same way as desk workers: through technology. Digitalization can bring great benefits for these industrial teams, giving them more tools to increase their safety, develop efficient and productive work and have the necessary tools to be fully connected to the company and have a more fluid communication, something that greatly increases their welfare at work. In this way, they can take control of their growth and well-being.

Source: Emergence Capital

Technology arrives to save the day

Of course there is a change of mindset that has to be done inside the company, but providing these kind of tools to employees is a first step to start acknowledging their needs and importance to the company, and begin leveling the differences between employees. Technology provides integration, communication, safety and efficiency of these workers.

The apps that are designed specially for industrial workers ask for specific requests, share announcements and news, manage permissions and certifications in a digital way, make that the industrial worker, in the end, get to be connected to the company. Also, there are digital PPEs, smart helmets or intelligent devices that improve their safety and boost their productivity, giving employees an empowerment they didn’t have before. All these options are part of the solution that could close the gap between desk and deskless workers, bringing not only benefits for workers, but a more solid team and company, with it’s necessary economic impact increasing revenue in the mid term.

Just seeing how the world changed in the past decades for deskbound employees, and how these new developments and tools positively impacted on their daily tasks, make us think about what could happen if the same trends took place in industries. It is already time to close that gap, leveling up every deskless worker and giving them the opportunity of a brighter future not just for their professional development, but for the industry as a whole.

Learn more

If you want to learn more about digitalizating industrial environments, click on www.drixit.com