Despite a rocky start to the financial year, data on the UK jobs market earlier this week provided some timely relief from lingering economic gloom. Encouragingly, job vacancies saw the fastest monthly increase in three years – a promising sign for business optimism and growth.
But as employers brace for the impact of a rise in National Insurance contributions and President Trump’s 10% tariffs on the UK, this positive outlook will soon be tested. And let’s not forget the enduring issue of ailing productivity, which has long been a barrier to growth in the UK.
Against this backdrop, the challenge of unlocking the vast potential of the service economy and retaining the most talented people will no doubt be front of mind for many of you.
Customer abuse: a threat to individual and business productivity
Of the many issues impacting productivity in this country, one that often flies under the radar is the business impact of hostility and abuse against service workers. Our data shows that customer-facing workers are taking an average of nine sick days per year after experiencing customer hostility due to the resulting stress and health issues.
For five years, we have campaigned for greater protections for workers in the face of such abuse. In 2020, we launched the Service with Respect campaign, intended to shine a light on this issue and find solutions to tackle it.
While there has been some progress – such as achieving a change in the law to include tougher sentencing for those who assault a customer-facing worker – more needs to be done.
The data suggests the situation remains a pressing issue: 35% of service workers who face hostility or abuse think customer aggression has increased, and 29% of service workers reported their jobs becoming more challenging as a result, while 42% said they hadn’t noticed a change.
Over the last few weeks, I have heard about and read some truly shocking stories – submitted to us by our members and campaign supporters – of abuse against service workers. Understandably, the mental and physical toll of this abuse on victims is enormous – so much so that 39% of customer-facing workers have considered leaving their job as a result.
Calling on our members for support
I am in no doubt that the time to change the narrative is now – to support the 1.3 million people in customer service roles across the UK and to boost productivity.
The Institute welcomes wholeheartedly the Government’s efforts to make the assault of shop workers a standalone criminal offence through the upcoming Crime and Policing Bill. This is a momentous step forward. The challenge is, however, as it stands, tens of thousands working in other sectors will remain unprotected. This issue touches every corner of the service sector, from hospitality and retail to transport, telecoms, infrastructure, and financial services.
I urge you to submit any evidence you have (case studies, statistics, etc) to this written call for evidence, which relates to the Crime and Policing Bill currently being discussed in Parliament. In doing so, together we can ensure customer-service workers up and down the country, in all sectors, are given the protections they need and deserve.
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