Nearly 70% of Frontline Workers Feel Replaceable, Even as Most Take Pride in Their Work
A Fountain survey of 1,014 U.S. frontline workers finds a committed workforce ground down by unpredictable schedules and too little control over their time.
America's frontline workers take pride in their work, but they don't feel seen doing it. Seventy-seven percent are proud to tell people what they do, 68% say their manager regularly or sometimes asks for their input, and 63% feel respected by the customers they serve.
Yet many feel their contribution goes unrecognized. Forty-seven percent say frontline workers are underappreciated given how essential they are to the economy, 56% say most people have no idea how stressful the work really is, and 69% feel at least somewhat replaceable.
These are among the findings of a Propeller Insights survey of 1,014 U.S. frontline workers, conducted in June 2026 and commissioned by Fountain, the AI-native platform for managing the global frontline workforce. It is the second set of results from that survey, following July's release on how workers view AI's role in hiring. Together they reveal a portrait of a committed, capable workforce that feels overlooked by the wider public and by a hiring system that too often runs on everyone's schedule but theirs.
