Walk into any warehouse, branch or clinic, and you’ll notice the same behaviour: teams default to WhatsApp before email or portals. This is, without doubt, an operating reality for the deskless majority. BCG says that between 70-80% of the world’s workforce, around 2.7 billion people, work away from a desk. These workers often lack usable, governed digital channels, and they’re the ones who need quick, reliable support right in the palm of their hand.
The scale alone justifies making WhatsApp a first-class ‘enterprise surface’. However, many leaders still carry preconceived notions that an ‘enterprise platform’ must be complex, feature-stacked, and locked behind training sessions. WhatsApp is the opposite: lightweight, instantly familiar, and already woven into your team’s daily digital life. There’s no learning curve, no cumbersome processes, and no endless training sessions for adoption.
If that doesn’t convince you, allow me to paint the ‘numbers’ picture.
In May 2025, Meta revealed that WhatsApp had crossed the 3-billion-user mark. On top of that, over 175 million people reach out to a business on the app every single day. For HR and operations leaders, those numbers translate into reach, intent and habit, on a channel staff and potential recruits already trust.
Frontline workers are the backbone of supply chains, retail and e-commerce. They often operate without desks, laptops or stable email access and rely on mobile chat. That’s where WhatsApp’s sheer presence turns into a real advantage. Multilingual chatbots running on the platform routinely get better response rates and faster replies than most traditional digital hiring channels.
Also Read: The Future of Hospitality Talent: Reskilling for a Tech-Enhanced Guest Journey
So, what does a WhatsApp-centred enterprise stack look like when done right?
First, see it as a proper workflow, not just another chat window. The WhatsApp Business Platform can plug straight into your CRM, ATS or HRIS, so every message, template and handoff is tracked and tied to the right profile. That means you can run applications, collect documents, send offer letters, share start-date reminders, manage shift swaps or even run safety drills, all without leaving WhatsApp. And if something needs a human touch, it’s just one tap away.
Second, design for how deskless talent actually communicates. Voice notes often matter more than forms. Low-bandwidth flows beat long portals. Candidates should be able to apply, take quick assessments, and share their KYC documents in one chat thread, with AI nudging them to the next step.
Third, it is important to strike the right balance between speed and control. Opt-ins, message templates, role-based permissions and sensible data retention policies are essential safeguards. Once these are in place, you can move fast without losing sight of the bigger picture. This approach almost always beats trying to push people through email or clunky portals.
It also helps that knowledge workers are drowning in inbox traffic. Microsoft’s 2025 Work Trend Index highlights the ‘infinite workday,’ with the average employee receiving 117 emails a day. Moving operational and hiring comms to WhatsApp restores attention where it’s needed.
The Playbook is Straightforward
Start small, but start smart. Pick one process that always feels like a slog: frontline hiring or day-one onboarding are great places to begin, and make the whole thing chat-first from start to finish. Hook it up to your system of record so every chat, voice note and document automatically updates your ATS or HRIS. Design for voice, local languages and low-friction document capture from the outset. Build in AI nudges and guardrails: escalation keywords, consent flows, and audit trails must be baked in. Scale gradually once trust is built.
We’ve collectively spent decades optimising for desk workers. Now the onus is on us to do the same for the people who keep our banks, hospitals, shop floors and streets running. Meet them where they are, on WhatsApp, and make that channel an integrated, auditable layer of your enterprise stack. The returns will follow.
Krishna Khandelwal is the Founder and Co-founder of Hunar.AI, an AI-powered platform transforming frontline workforce hiring in India. An IIT Kanpur alumnus and former Chief Business Officer at Locus, he brings 15+ years of experience in technology, finance, and business strategy.
