Pandemic hangovers stifling growth for 59%

of UK businesses

• 59% of workers believe the pandemic has had a negative longterm impact on the operations of the business they work for.

• A third of workers think their business is less efficient since COVID-19.

• 37% believe their employee experience has got worse.

• 84% would like to see policies that were dropped as a result of the pandemic brought back.

• Face-to-face training found to be the activity most employees want to return.

According to new research, 59% of workers in ‘deskless’ industries, including manufacturing, care, construction, and retail, believe the ongoing effect of the pandemic is having a negative impact on the operations of the business they work for. This is a challenge which, left unaddressed, could have disastrous consequences for UK industry.

On top of this, almost a third of workers (30%) think that the business they work for is less efficient now as a result of its response to COVID-19.

The study found that employee satisfaction is also continuing to suffer in the aftermath of the pandemic. Over a third (37%) of workers state that their employee experience is worse now than pre-2020. The most common reasons for this included staff shortages (51%), less in-person training (37%), worse communication (36%), less training across the board (32%), and fewer opportunities for development (26%).