Young Frontline Workers Want Better Training, Not Perks: Report

What Young Frontline Workers Really Want

Free learning or free lunch? According to a recent report by Schoox, more and more young frontline workers would choose the former. The study, based on responses from 1,000 18–34-year-old frontline workers in hospitality, retail, restaurant and manufacturing, challenges the notion that this group is more interested in freebies than career growth.

Instead, respondents value learning and development opportunities over gimmicky perks, and they wish their current training did more for their career trajectory. The data backs this up: 40% said more purposeful learning and development would make them stay at their job another year, versus just 23% who said the same of perks.

As former quarterback Drew Brees, whose companies use Schoox for training, puts it: “A perk feels good for a day. Real training changes how somebody performs and how the business runs.” Young frontline workers, it seems, are far more farsighted than they are often given credit for.

The Training Gap: Key Survey Findings

Young frontline workers aren’t short on training opportunities—they’re short on the right training. According to the Schoox report, 66% say their company doesn’t provide the training they need to do their job, while 42% want more engaging, interactive content and 34% want training tied more closely to their actual work.

Format matters just as much as content. Nearly two-thirds (65%) prefer training delivered in microbursts rather than long-form sessions, 75% favor hands-on learning and shadowing, and 67% want training available on their phone. A majority (57%) would feel somewhat or completely comfortable with AI tools training them.

But access remains a major obstacle: 79% cite lack of time and management not prioritizing training as the biggest barriers to completing learning programs. That neglect has consequences. Nearly half of frontline workers don’t know who their company’s CEO is, and 53% say interacting with customers or clients is their weakest skill. When asked what would help most, 43% point to practical execution and product knowledge training.

Why Training Beats Perks for Retention

The data makes the choice clear. In the Schoox survey, 40% of young frontline workers said more purposeful learning and development would make them stay at their job another year, versus just 23% who said the same of perks.

Drew Brees explains why. “A perk feels good for a day. Real training changes how somebody performs and how the business runs,” he says. Effective training builds confidence and pride, two traits younger workers in particular can benefit from. Perks, no matter what they cost, won’t teach these skills, but training will.

Brees also believes the manager has the biggest role to play in making work meaningful. “People want to feel like they’re part of something, that their work matters, and like someone’s invested in them getting better,” he says.

The Human Side of Training and Building a Strong Future

Although slightly more than half of respondents would be at least somewhat okay with receiving their training from AI, Brees sees a human presence as indispensable. He tries to actually be in the restaurants, asking people what’s hard about their day and seeing with his own eyes where the training’s working and where it’s not. “If I’m just reading a report, I’m missing half the picture,” he says.

With 40% of respondents indicating they’d stay at their job a year longer if the training was great, there’s a clear link between training and keeping good people. Brees likens the frontline workplace to his experience in sports. “At the end of the day, everybody had one common goal, and every single role on that team mattered just as much as any other,” he says. “That’s exactly how I see frontline teams.”

Training and retention are, in his view, the same investment. “Onboarding someone correctly, training them as the job changes, and showing them where they can grow, is what shows up later as somebody who sticks around and takes pride in the work,” says Brees.