Final Tech Report HD - Flipbook - Page 31
As the global workforce starts to shrink at either end of the
spectrum, the workforce cliff looms ever nearer. Responding to
the challenge of the ‘workforce cliff’ will require employees to
think more about the changing needs and expectations of
their staff. One area that stands out as an area ready for
innovation and change is employee pay.
Can you think of anything that hasn’t become faster or more
efficient in the last 100 years?
Chances are, you can’t.
ADAM HANKIN
GENERAL MANAGER,
WAGESTREAM
There’s one thing that’s actually gotten slower the last 100
years and that’s the way we get paid. At the turn of the last
century workers got paid everyday, and had contact with their
employer almost daily. Now, the majority of working people
across Europe are paid only once a month. Obviously, it was no
longer sustainable for employers to pay their staff on a daily or
"The next innovation in
financial services set to change
the way we work and live
probably won’t be the flying car
or virtual reality. It
might actually be something
we were already doing 100
years ago."
weekly basis, but ultimately the employee lost out.
The rigid system of monthly pay creates a feast and famine
effect with spending and means that 3.15 million people in the
UK & Ireland turn to payday lenders every year. It’s become an
accepted norm that’s actually having a huge impact on our
lives and the way we spend our money. It also means that our
relationship with money has become one of stress and anxiety,
with the brief excitement of payday often being the only
positive part of it.
That's why I believe that employers are in the best possible
position to disrupt this system and that the next innovations in
the world of financial services are going to be about giving
employees more flexibility and autonomy with their pay.
Innovation in this area has the potential to revolutionise the
way people work and transform our working relationships.
To reverse the system of payroll that is now ingrained in the
way companies run, would be a herculean task. That’s why I
believe that more flexibility around pay won’t come directly
from organisations themselves, but from the financial services
industry that will provide solutions that will sit between them
and their employees. It will mean that organisations can
continue to run their payroll as normal, but employees will no
longer lose out.
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