The way people work, who they work with, and where work happens continues to evolve even years after the pandemic. Many management teams are still determining their “new normal” as remote and hybrid workforce trends persist. Meanwhile, the macro environment has shifted and management teams are focused on the path-to-profitability instead of growth-at-all-costs. This adds pressure for HR leaders to tightly manage talent costs while trying to maintain high employee engagement and retention.
This is no small task, but technology can help. At Delta-v, we believe this presents a compelling opportunity for technology solutions focused on managing complex, dispersed, and flexible workforces to serve HR leaders in this effort.
WHY WE'RE EXCITED
We’re coming out of a long cycle of low interest rates. Growth has slowed for many companies, and CHROs are trying to figure out how to get more skilled, efficient, and productive workforces – keeping costs in line while also accelerating growth.
As companies pursue these goals, worker preferences and mindsets have changed in reaction to new labor opportunities. Delta-v has identified four key, persistent trends supporting the demand for HR tech tools geared toward flexible and dispersed workforces:
1. Rise of frontline worker agency – frontline employees (deskless workers) are in short supply and have new expectations for work with the growth of the gig economy (e.g. Uber, DoorDash, etc.). Those jobs offer a great user experience and maximum flexibility. To compete, CHROs need to provide a better digital experience for employees with features like shift scheduling flexibility, earned wage access, and communication tools.
2. Shortage of highly-skilled talent – despite a softening labor market, the demand for highly-skilled employees is still high and projections indicate that it will stay that way as AI tool evolve the workforce. Jobs are left unfilled, and companies are looking for more creative ways to fill those gaps. Contractors can be beneficial, but it puts an additional administrative burden on the back office.
“Despite signaling plans to hire full-time staff, companies appear to have a growing interest in alternative hires. Nearly 3 in 10 (29%) are planning to hire seasonal, temporary or contract workers. This intention aligns with the trends observed in the second half of 2022, where 28% of companies expressed similar hiring plans. Currently, nearly half of U.S. hiring managers (47%) say their businesses employ 1099 workers, and 29% do not currently but have done so in the past. Only 24% say they’ve never employed 1099 workers.”
Express Employment Services citing the Harris Poll
3. Growth of the nontraditional workplace – according to Upwork, by 2025 an estimated 32.6 million Americans will be working remotely. Talent increasingly wants the ability to work from anywhere and employers want access to the best talent (or more affordable talent), no matter where it is. Historically, access to global talent was limited to large companies by the pains of administration and compliance. Given the changes in the macro environment, smaller companies want the opportunity to optimize the cost of their workforce by accessing cheaper, highly skilled talent around the world but need technology tools to streamline the administrative burden.
“Organizations increasingly rely on nontraditional workers for skills and activities that are high value and strategically important… To unlock the full benefits of the entire workforce…you need to think of your workforce as an all-inclusive, boundaryless ecosystem, where different types of workers have different needs and make valuable contributions in different ways.”
Deloitte 2023 Human Capital Trends
4. Need for increased agility – the pace of change in the workforce is fast and only getting faster— exacerbated by the growth of generative AI. HR leaders have to respond by developing agility to steer workforce composition. They need to be able to quickly identify, hire, and deploy new talent globally, while also reskilling current talent, where possible. Technology solutions that provide flexibility are needed to help CHROs navigate the new world of work.
“Generative AI – such as ChatGPT and the ever-growing number of tools that are built around the technology – will revolutionize everything about the way we manage talent and workplace dynamics. From a day-to-day perspective, HR professionals will be empowered to streamline many processes, such as recruitment, personal development, workforce planning, and administrative tasks.”
Forbes Top 8 HR Trends for 2024
In confluence, these trends are complicating the mandates of HR leaders, and technology solutions are necessary to help advance the goals of the corporation while keeping costs in line.
PRIVATE COMPANIES POSITIONED TO REPLACE LEGACY PLATFORMS
We’ve identified several private companies that we believe are poised to replace legacy platforms to help HR leaders access and retain a broader assortment of talent. These companies provide better user experiences, automation, and efficiencies for HR leaders to manage global, dispersed workforces.
HOW THESE TOOLS HELP
- Open up global talent pools for companies of all sizes to access a larger group of highly-skilled talent
- Saves HR teams time and money by automating global hiring, payroll, and compliance
- Reduces compliance and regulatory risk for teams expanding globally
- Increases agility by allowing companies to hire more quickly - whether freelance or full-time
- Improves employee experience for a globally dispersed workforce
HOW THESE TOOLS HELP
- Creates efficiencies in frontline labor by reducing meetings between shifts, reducing manual work to create shift schedules, and enabling digital cross-functional communication with back office teams
- Offers more attractive benefits to frontline employees (e.g. earned wage access, flexible shift scheduling, self-service)
- Improves the engagement and retention rates of frontline employees by integrating them into the culture
The traditional HR technology stack around workforce management is in need of an update; at Delta-v, we’re excited to partner with companies offering compelling modern solutions for the modern HR leader.
