Frontline employees – the retail associates, delivery drivers, hospitality staff, call center agents, and others who serve as the face of a company – make up a massive portion of the workforce (about 70% in the U.S. kahoot.com). Yet many organizations have historically underinvested in their development. In 2024 and 2025, this has become an urgent problem. Why? Three converging trends are putting unprecedented pressure on frontline teams and the businesses that rely on them:

• Rapid Automation: Advances in AI and robotics are transforming frontline roles at breakneck speed, demanding new human skills to complement the tech. aspeninstitute.orgibm.com
• Sky-High Attrition: Turnover in frontline-heavy sectors is far above average – a clear sign that lack of growth opportunities is pushing workers out the door. www2.deloitte.comfrontlyne.com
• Rising Customer Expectations: In the post-pandemic era, customer experience (CX) standards have soared. Empowered, skilled teams are crucial as consumers expect fast, personalized, flawless service – every time zoom.comcustify.com.

Business leaders must recognize that upskilling frontline staff is no longer a “nice-to-have” for later. It’s a competitive necessity right now. Below, we dive into each of these three drivers of urgency and how smart organizations are responding.

1. Automation Is Redefining Frontline Work – and Skills

From self-checkout kiosks and warehouse robots to AI-driven chatbots, automation is becoming ubiquitous on the front lines. This wave of technology is changing the nature of frontline jobs in real time. Rather than eliminating frontline roles outright, automation is shifting them – taking over repetitive tasks and elevating the importance of uniquely human capabilities like empathy, critical thinking, and complex problem-solving.

Recent data underscores how quickly this shift is happening. Business leaders worldwide estimate that 40% of their workforce will require reskilling in the next three years due to AI and automation adoption ibm.com. In fact, 77% of executives say entry-level positions (many of them frontline roles) are already feeling the impacts of generative AI, a trend that will only intensify in the coming years ibm.com. And CEOs agree that new technologies demand new skills – 69% of global CEOs in 2024 said generative AI will require most of their workforce to develop new skills within three years aspeninstitute.org. The bottom line: companies can’t wait until “later” to start retraining their frontline teams for an AI-enhanced world; the transformation is underway now.

Crucially, the rise of automation makes human-centric skills more important, not less. Consumers may appreciate faster service enabled by tech, but they also crave the human touch. Surveys show 62% of customers prefer dealing with a human for support over a digital self-service option zoom.com. Fewer than half of consumers are comfortable with AI-only customer service, with many worrying about losing the human connection and service quality agilitypr.com. In practice, that means your frontline employees need to be equipped to handle the higher-level interactions – the empathetic listening, personalized advice, creative problem-solving and relationship-building – that machines can’t do. As automated tools handle rote work (like processing returns or pulling up basic info), frontline staff must be upskilled to fill the gap in areas where humans excel. The companies that succeed will be those that turn their frontline teams into tech-empowered superstars: employees who know how to use AI tools on the job, but also bring irreplaceable human qualities to the table.

Forward-thinking organizations are already moving on this. Many are implementing training on digital tools, data literacy, and AI basics for frontline workers, ensuring they can work with emerging technologies. At the same time, there’s renewed focus on “soft” skills like communication, adaptability, and emotional intelligence. The goal is a future-proof frontline workforce that’s comfortable with automation and able to elevate the customer experience beyond what automation alone can achieve. Modern LMS platforms (like Frontlyne’s) are key enablers here – they deliver mobile-first microlearning, simulations, and just-in-time training that help a retail clerk or field technician continually learn new tech skills on the go. As a recent Frontlyne POV article noted, LMS platforms with mobile, gamified and career-mapping features can empower the new frontline workforce, helping companies reduce turnover and future-proof their teams. In short, automation is changing your frontline roles whether you’re ready or not – so get your people ready.

2. Battling Attrition: Frontline Talent Is Walking Out the Door

If you lead a business with frontline employees, you’re likely familiar with the attrition crisis. Turnover among frontline positions (in retail, hospitality, logistics, healthcare, etc.) has long been higher than in office roles, but in recent years it’s reached alarming levels. Consider these figures: the annual employee turnover in U.S. hospitality is around 74%, and in frontline-heavy transportation it’s about 57% – versus just ~13% across all industries on average www2.deloitte.com. In other words, many employers in frontline sectors are essentially replacing over half of their workforce every year. That churn is massively expensive and disruptive. For retailers, as one analysis found, losing a single frontline employee can cost nearly $10,000 in terms of recruiting, hiring, training, and lost productivity mckinsey.com. Multiply that across hundreds or thousands of departures, and the hit to the bottom line is stark.

Why are people leaving? It’s not a mystery – they’re not getting what they need to stay. Recent surveys confirm that frontline employees are craving career growth and development, and they’ll jump ship if they don’t get it. In McKinsey’s research, lack of career advancement has become the #1 attrition factor for frontline retail workers, even ahead of pay in many cases mckinsey.com. Frontline staff often feel stuck in “dead-end” jobs with no clear path upward, so they understandably move on to find better opportunities. In fact, internal data from Frontlyne’s user base found that 81% of frontline employees would quit if they don’t see a chance to progress, and 100% said they want clear career pathways laid out for them. Simply put, stagnation isn’t an option – if you can’t show your frontline how they can grow, you will lose them.

The flip side is powerful: providing training and growth opportunities can dramatically improve retention. Far from being reluctant learners, frontline workers are eager to upskill and advance. A late-2023 global survey (Kahoot! Workplace Culture Report) found that 93% of frontline employees want more learning and development opportunities on the job kahoot.com. Even more striking, about two-thirds said they would stay with their company for an extra six years if they had better career support and training, and 44% said they’d commit to an extra decade with their employer if given more development prospects kahoot.com. That speaks volumes: people want to build a career with you – if you invest in them. It’s no wonder experts often cite a strong link between development and retention. Another survey found nearly 60% of workers (especially women, younger employees, and people of color) would likely leave a company that doesn’t provide training and skill growth hrdive.com. On the other hand, some companies that have launched internal upskilling and talent retention initiatives have seen measurable drops in turnover. For example, pilot programs in the manufacturing sector (part of the World Economic Forum’s Frontline Future initiative) reported cutting attrition by several percentage points while boosting productivity and promotions, thanks to focused upskilling efforts mckinsey.commckinsey.com.

All of this points to a clear imperative: if you want to keep your frontline staff, invest in their growth. Treating frontline attrition as seriously as customer churn is a mindset more companies need to adopt mckinsey.com. This can include creating defined career progression paths, offering on-the-job training and certification programs, and making continuing education accessible (e.g. through a mobile app or LMS). When people see a future with your company – a chance to gain skills, earn more, maybe move into a supervisor role or a new specialty – they are far more likely to stay. As an added benefit, they’ll be more engaged and higher performing. In retail and hospitality, some of the best employers are doing exactly this: for instance, implementing “grow-from-within” programs that let an entry-level worker advance to store manager or corporate roles over time, with milestones and training at each step. Modern technology can support these efforts. An integrated frontline talent platform like Frontlyne can combine learning modules, micro-certifications, and career mapping in one place frontlyne.com, so a worker can literally see their next step and what they need to do to get there. By automating access to learning content, tracking skill milestones, and personalizing development plans, such a platform turns aspirations into achievable goals frontlyne.com – and helps you as an employer cultivate highly skilled, loyal team members instead of constantly re-hiring. The cost of inaction is steep: if you ignore upskilling, you’ll keep paying the price in endless recruiting and lost productivity. Conversely, invest in your people now, and you’ll retain a motivated workforce that’s equipped to drive better results (not to mention saving the hefty costs of attrition).

3. Customer Experience: New Expectations Demand Skilled, Empowered Teams

In the age of Amazon, Uber, and instant everything, customer expectations have never been higher. This is especially true in industries staffed by frontline workers – think of shoppers who expect store associates to be product experts and checkout lines to move at lightning speed, or hotel guests who demand personalized, attentive service along with seamless mobile check-in. Businesses are finding that great customer experience is often the only thing differentiating them from competitors. And who delivers those experiences? Your frontline teams. That’s why upskilling the frontline is directly tied to winning (or losing) today’s customer.

Consider how unforgiving the consumer can be: 63% of customers say they would switch to a competitor after just one or two bad service experiences zoom.com. In some surveys, a majority of consumers (57%+) won’t even give you a second chance after a single awful experience zoom.comgivainc.com. On the positive side, 74% of consumers report they’re likely to buy based on experience alone – even more than price or product custify.com. In fact, 64% of customers say the experience a company provides is more important than price when it comes to their purchasing decision custify.com. And if you deliver great service, the rewards come back to you: 89% of consumers will make another purchase after a positive experience, versus only 18% who will do so after a poor experiencecustify.com. These stats paint a clear picture: customer experience can make or break loyalty, revenue, and reputation. Companies that consistently provide fast, helpful, and personalized service will earn more business – those that don’t will watch customers walk away.

The challenge is that delivering a standout experience is getting more complex. Customers now expect consistency and quality across all channels – in-store, on the phone, via app, social media, you name it agilitypr.com. They want issues resolved immediately and correctly. And while AI and self-service have a role (e.g. many people appreciate a good chatbot for simple queries), there’s a higher premium on human-centric service than ever. A global 2024 consumer trends study by Qualtrics found that as AI becomes more common, people put higher value on genuine human connection in their interactions with brands agilitypr.com. For instance, great service actually beats out even lower prices in driving customer loyalty in 2024 – many consumers will pay a bit more if it means receiving excellent, attentive service agilitypr.comcustify.com. On the flip side, consumers are wary of experiences that rely too much on tech at the expense of humanity: less than half are comfortable with AI-only service, and many feel that digital support is the weak link in today’s customer journeys agilitypr.com. They worry that companies will lose the human touch or that automation will lead to frustrating interactions. This all underscores a critical point: your frontline employees are your CX differentiators. When a customer finally does talk to a real person, that person needs to absolutely shine.

Upskilling is the way to ensure they do. An empowered, well-trained frontline team can turn mundane transactions into memorable moments. That means training staff not only in hard skills (product knowledge, technical know-how) but also in people skills and decision-making. For example, a contact center agent who’s been upskilled in active listening and creative problem-solving can efficiently calm an upset caller and find a solution – whereas an untrained agent might stick rigidly to a script (or bounce the issue to someone else), leaving the customer frustrated. In a retail setting, a sales associate who has deep knowledge of the inventory (thanks to good training) and the authority to make things right for the customer (thanks to supportive management) will deliver far better service than one who is uninformed and disempowered. The differences show up directly in business outcomes. Research proves that investing in employee experience translates to better customer experience: companies with top-quartile employee engagement and training are more than twice as likely to achieve top-quartile customer satisfaction in their industry mckinsey.com. In retail, for instance, companies known for superior CX (think Apple Stores or luxury hotel chains) also invest heavily in frontline training and have the engaged staff to show for it. Satisfied, skilled employees tend to stay longer and serve customers better, creating a virtuous cycle mckinsey.com. They make fewer errors and can focus fully on customers instead of fumbling through learning on the fly mckinsey.com. Essentially, if you want happy customers, you need happy, capable frontline teams.

There’s also a direct financial incentive to get this right. Improving customer experience isn’t just a feel-good goal – it drives real ROI. In one analysis, 84% of companies that invested in improving CX saw an uptick in revenue; nearly all also reported higher customer loyalty, and 79% even reduced costs (often because first-contact resolution goes up when employees are well-trained) custify.com. Those metrics should catch any executive’s eye. Empowering your frontline staff with the skills and tools to deliver great service is one of the highest-leverage investments you can make. Every dollar put into training, coaching, and equipping your team pays back through increased sales, repeat business, and positive word-of-mouth – not to mention fewer escalations and firefights. In contrast, failing to upskill your frontline in today’s CX-centric environment is like inviting customers to leave. No amount of back-end innovation or marketing spend can compensate for a poor interaction at the front line.

Conclusion: Upskill Now or Fall Behind (A Call to Action)

Automation, attrition, and customer experience trends are all sending the same message: the time to upskill your frontline teams is now – not later. The companies that act decisively on this will cultivate a frontline workforce that is tech-savvy, highly engaged, and capable of delivering the kind of customer experiences that build loyalty. Those that delay will continue to struggle with revolving-door turnover, underprepared staff, and customer churn. In a very real sense, your frontline employees are your business. It’s up to business decision-makers like you to future-proof that asset.

The good news is you don’t have to do it alone. Modern solutions exist to make frontline upskilling efficient and scalable. Frontlyne, for example, offers a mobile-first platform built specifically to help companies connect with, train, and grow their frontline teams in real time frontlyne.com. With Frontlyne’s all-in-one app, you can deliver bite-sized learning modules, how-to videos, and quizzes right to an employee’s smartphone on the shop floor. You can establish career growth plans and track progress, send pulse surveys and communications to keep teams engaged, even manage task checklists and SOP compliance – all in one place frontlyne.com. It’s a science-backed, gamified approach that meets frontline workers where they are. The result is a workforce that feels supported and empowered to learn continuously, rather than being left behind by change. (And as we’ve seen, that translates into lower turnover and higher customer satisfaction.)

Empowering your frontline doesn’t just improve internal metrics – it strengthens your entire business. Imagine lower hiring costs because people stay and grow with you. Imagine higher sales because knowledgeable employees can truly assist and delight customers. Imagine the agility of having a workforce that can adapt to new technology or process changes at a moment’s notice because they’re always learning. Upskilling makes these scenarios possible.

Now is the moment to make it happen. Don’t wait for a competitor to upskill their team and poach your customers (or your employees) with superior service. Commit to a frontline-first talent strategy. Assess the skill gaps in your frontline roles, invest in training programs and platforms that can deliver learning at scale, and create clear pathways for your employees to progress. The companies that double-down on frontline development in 2025 will be the ones that thrive heading into 2030. Those that don’t will be left playing catch-up or, worse, dealing with constant labor shortages and dissatisfied customers.

Your frontline teams have been the unsung heroes of your business – it’s time to give them the tools and growth they need to become your competitive advantage. Upskill them now, not later. The payoffs (in productivity, retention, and customer loyalty) will come quickly and compound over time custify.com. And if you’re looking for a partner to help you on this journey, consider exploring what Frontlyne’s platform can do for your organization. Frontlyne was built to help frontline-heavy enterprises train, engage, and retain their people – ultimately turning what was once a high-turnover cost center into a high-performing, future-ready team.

The future of your business will be written by the frontline employees who interact with your customers and products every day. Equip them to write a great story. Start prioritizing frontline upskilling today. Visit Frontlyne to learn more about how a modern, mobile-first frontline development platform can transform your workforce or get a free demo of how we can help you turn these trends into an opportunity. Don’t wait – your frontline teams need upskilling now, and your future success depends on it.