Leaders can use data to glean greater insights and make better decisions. By collecting the appropriate information in a structured and methodical way, they can use it to reveal instances when they may be making incorrect assumptions, and instead, gain a deeper understanding of what desk-free workers want, and therefore, how to motivate a higher number of them to stay in their roles for longer.
Actionable Insights
Fair pay amongst desk-free workers
The majority of office-based workers are paid a salary on a monthly basis, and many, particularly those in the most senior positions, might question why they would turn up for work at all if they were not paid in a fair and timely fashion for what they do. Yet these issues persist on a regular basis for desk-free workers.
90% of the most senior respondents in our survey, those in the roles of Chairman, CEO and Managing Director, say their desk-free workers are paid adequately and on time, as opposed to 57% of workers themselves who describe their experience this way. The middle managers, so often the bridge between top leaders and the frontline workforce, sit approximately in the middle ground, and 77% of them say employee pay is fair and on time.
Coming from the perspective of being in some of the lowest paid roles, fair pay is a strong theme for desk-free workers. 39% of them say they are always paid on time, but not fairly in relation to what they do, compared to just 19% of middle managers who say their staff are not paid fairly. This drops to just 7% of those in the top jobs—Chairman, CEO, and Managing Director, or, looking at it the other way, a huge 93% think desk-free workers are paid fairly.
Being paid on time
of workers say they are not paid fairly
39%
of executive leaders say their staff are not paid fairly
7%
of middle managers say their staff are not paid fairly
19%
say they are paid fairly but often late
Only
It is difficult to know how much this is purely about perception as the extremes in pay scales can be vast. In January 2025, the High Pay Centre stated that CEOs of the top FTSE 100 companies were earning more in less than three hours than the average worker does in a year. The same report said median annual CEO salaries for these companies were £4.22 million, compared to £37,430 for the average worker, and £23,798 per annum for a desk-free worker on minimum wage, based on a 40-hour week. Frontline workers are clearly paid a lot less than top management, but fairness is another question.
Our survey finds that being paid late is a minor issue for most desk-free workers, as just 2% of those in our survey say they are paid fairly but often late.
In fact, workers in most sectors say they are always paid on time. However, 13% of desk-free workers in wholesale, and 10% working in business services, say late pay is an issue for them. These findings do not chime with managers in the same sectors—where only 5% of managers in wholesale and just 2% of those in business services recognise their employees are often paid late. If leaders do not believe this is an issue, they cannot get on top of it. It is therefore crucial that leaders consider ways to collect data on late payment activity and use that information to eradicate it completely.
Also, employees in the distribution sector appear to be at odds with other sector findings that show managers underestimate the existence of late payments. A notable one in ten (11%) of managers in distribution say their desk-free workers are often paid late (albeit fairly). However, none of the workers in distribution say they are not paid on time—possibly an instance of managers being more alert to a perceived issue that they do not actually have to worry about.
Preventing burn-out and helping employees manage workloads are common themes in people management relating to the office/desk-based workforce, but it appears that overload can be accepted as a standard expectation for desk-free workers.
Feeling overworked
Overall, 29% of desk-free workers say they are overworked but expect this in their line of work, rising to 31% of those working in retail and the lowest, 20%, in wholesale.
Feeling overworked
The acceptance that being overworked is the expectation is highest among the youngest age group of desk-free workers, 38% for those aged 18–24 years, and drops steadily through the older age groups to just 16% of those aged 55+.
However, when considering if they have a manageable workload with no issues around scheduling or resourcing, just 25% of workers agreed, indicating that 75% do not feel their work is manageable. In contrast, 42% of leaders say their desk-free workers have a manageable workload, with no issues around scheduling/resourcing. Age and experience appear to be important factors when it comes to feeling overworked.
Around 80% of the younger groups (79% of 18–24 year-olds and 81% of 25–34 year-olds) say they are overworked, compared with 67% of those aged 45–54 years and 64% of those aged 55+. It may be that older workers are just more used to dealing with the workload, and experience has taught them more effective methods for completing their tasks, as well as having developed better coping strategies.
Feeling overworked varies by sector, with 80% of desk-free workers in business services (and also in wholesale) saying their workload is not manageable, compared to 65% of those working in manufacturing and 64% in distribution.
among the youngest age group (18-24) accept being overworked is the expectation
Overload is caused by a number of factors including staff shortages—27% of desk-free workers blame it on insufficient staff numbers, compared to just 18% of executive leaders and middle managers who think this is the reason for unmanageable workloads. Other suggested causes include high levels of sickness absence, disorganised colleagues forgetting to turn up for shifts, unreliable technology, and lack of training.
One reason for overload that employees and managers completely agree on is that inconsistent levels of customer demand make planning and rostering difficult. One-quarter (25%) of desk-free workers and 25% of leaders say this is the reason staff are overworked.
Our data shows that managers underestimate the implications of overworking their desk-free workforce. One in five (21%) of all managers say that their staff are sometimes overworked but it does not seem to affect morale, rising to 32% for some of the top-level roles including Chairman, CEO, Managing Director, Operations Director, and Chief Operations Officer (COO). Indeed, only 18% of all managers say that being overworked drives many workers to quit or take extra sick days.
With high employee attrition a feature of managing the desk-free workforce, we have to wonder if leaders are correct in their assessment of workloads and suggest that a good number of workers may in fact be quitting because of being overworked. One of the issues here may be that when these easy-come, easy-go employees fail to show up for work, businesses move on quickly to replace them without carrying out exit interviews or surveys. The data these collect could shine a light into the real reasons why workers quit, providing actionable insights to help leaders reverse the trend.
Assume nothing! Data tells the truth, so using exit interviews, in person or over the telephone, or sending out an exit survey can reveal issues that leaders are just not aware of. Anonymised surveys may reveal some of the more uncomfortable truths. Effectively managing a business that depends on desk-free workers entails going the extra mile to fully understand what makes them tick, including the reasons why they choose to leave your company, or factors that would make the best workers choose to stay.