Shift-based business owners have experienced a lot of change in 2025, including operating in a tighter labor market with higher turnover and evolving employee demands. Looking ahead to 2026, you likely face similar challenges, with 10% of hourly workers already looking for their next job and Gen Z employees planning to jump ship within the next year.
When even one worker leaves, businesses spend thousands recruiting, hiring, and training replacement staff. Retaining your shift workers is crucial this year (and into 2026).
With the right strategies, you can improve employee engagement, reduce turnover, and create a happier, more motivated team.
Below, we’ll dive into five ways you can improve employee satisfaction and retention in your shift-based business, and share how Deputy’s workforce management software can help make it happen.
Make flexible scheduling your top priority
Flexible scheduling is quickly becoming one of the top drivers of employee retention, especially for businesses that rely on shift workers. 75% of hourly workers feel flexible work is critical to their job satisfaction, and 82% say it’s a big contributor to better work-life balance.
Predictable scheduling saves your team time and gives employees more control over their shifts, and is one of the core practices shift-based businesses need to start practicing if you want to retain your top workers.
To get started with flexible scheduling so you can meet both your business and employee needs:
Try Deputy's Auto-Scheduling, which uses AI to help you create schedules based on demand and employee preferences (plus, it helps simplify compliance, too).
Let employees self-manage by swapping shifts, which you can do with Deputy Shift Swapping.
Experiment with micro-shifts, a trend Deputy found in our research, is becoming more popular among younger, multi-job workers.
Engage your employees before they disengage
Beyond the demand for more flexible scheduling, shift workers and other hourly employees are looking for more engaging workplaces and empathetic employers, a trend we’re seeing as we head toward 2026. In our 2025 Big Shift Report, we found, for example, that younger generations of shift workers are prioritizing not just pay, but also workplace culture—and they’re unwilling to compromise on it.
32% of Gen Z hourly workers feel their employers haven’t done enough to make their workplaces better, like improving employee recognition or offering flexible work options.
Investing in their well-being, testing rewards programs, and implementing recognition go a long way in creating a work culture that retains your shift workers. After all, workers who don’t feel recognized are 2x more likely to quit.
Communication is also a major factor in engaging your shift workers. When just 13% of employees feel their companies do a good job communicating with the rest of their team, communicating clearly and often can help keep your employees engaged.
To do that:
Try Deputy’s News Feed, where you can share updates and recognition with your staff.
Use Deputy’s Shift Pulse™ to gather real-time feedback from employees at the end of every shift.
Look for patterns in feedback so you can adapt quickly and take action when teams start to show signs of disengagement.
Offer learning and development (even for hourly roles)
No one wants to feel stuck in their role, especially with younger generations of shift workers prioritizing skill development and career advancement. With only 37% of workers satisfied with career development, 2026 is a big opportunity to improve shift worker satisfaction through learning and development.
For example, you can:
Use Deputy’s workforce analytics to look for high-potential employees.
Let employees opt into cross-training, development programs, or mentorship/shadowing senior employees.
Test online learning programs that fit into shift workers’ lives, so your employees can upskill and apply what they learn at work.
Ask your teams for feedback on the development opportunities they want.
When it comes to shift worker retention, you can start planning career development activities now so you’re ready to meet the demand for it in 2026.
Use AI to align your business goals to shift worker satisfaction
Come 2026, business owners can no longer afford to guess what their shift workers need — demand is shifting too quickly, and employees want more say in how they work. That’s where AI and analytics come in.
With AI powered tools, you’re able to better predict schedules, demand, labor costs, and employee engagement, because you have automated insights at your fingertips. It frees your team to focus on your people, and gives shift workers more control over their work-life balance. Not to mention, data-backed decisions around scheduling, shift swapping, and more mean you can keep things fair in the workplace.
Deputy is helping business owners do just that:
Deputy’s Auto-Scheduling feature looks at sales, demand, employee availability, and compliance rules so you can create fair schedules automatically.
With demand forecasting, you can use Deputy to plan ahead and avoid things like overstaffing or understaffing, both of which can burn employees out and harm morale.
You can also leverage Deputy’s workforce analytics, which helps you spot trends in overtime costs and employee engagement.
By combining data and insights with feedback from your teams, you can spot potential issues with shift worker morale before they become a problem.
Create a better workplace culture with work-life balance
Unpredictable workplaces don’t just pose a problem for business owners, but also affect their shift workers' satisfaction, retention, and well-being. 57% of workers feel their jobs often conflict with their personal lives, with 41% having no control over things like scheduling. Inconsistent scheduling, overstaffing, and other admin errors can cause stress and burnout for everyone.
To foster more work-life balance for your hourly employees, focusing on well-being, mental health, and offering more control over what balance looks like for your staff are crucial this year and beyond.
Many businesses turn to Deputy to ensure that:
Their employees are getting (and taking) the breaks they need, thanks to Deputy’s Break Planning feature, which also keeps managers informed if breaks are missed.
Workers aren’t burning out with back-to-back shift scheduling, which Deputy’s Advanced scheduling features help prevent.
Staff can easily request time-off or swap shifts with Deputy’s mobile features, which help employees balance their personal lives with work.
Make 2026 your best year yet for shift worker retention
2025 has been a busy year for business owners, but now is the time to think ahead to meet your shift workers' needs in 2026.
To improve shift worker satisfaction and keep your employees engaged:
Start planning how to use flexible scheduling next year to give your teams more control over their work.
Put engagement and recognition activities in place now, so you can gather feedback and improve employee engagement ahead of 2026.
Test learning and development now, gathering insights from your hourly workforce.
Consider integrating AI into your everyday operations, especially for more flexible scheduling!
And remember to prioritize work-life balance for your teams, keeping a close eye on break planning and shift swapping.
Build a happier, resilient workforce with Deputy
Over 385,000 workplaces use Deputy's workforce management platform to run their shift-based businesses and build happier teams.
With Deputy, your teams get access to smarter scheduling, deep analytics, and an all-in-one management solution that gives you more control over your business.
Try Deputy for free to discover how businesses are building happier, more resilient workforces.
