How 2022 Workforce Trends Will Impact Payroll Management

April 21, 2022

With the COVID-19 pandemic, the business landscape has dramatically changed — lockdown legislations and safe-distancing measures have made a massive impact on the way companies function with regards to business operations. And payroll management is no exception. 

Even before the global pandemic struck, payroll processes were in the midst of a big transition from sophisticated spreadsheets to innovative cloud-based and SaaS information systems. However, with the changes in work environments due to COVID-19, businesses must once again adapt new payroll management practices to keep up with current workforce trends or risk being left behind. 

Emergent Workforce Trends in 2022

Globally, there has been an increasing distribution of workforces and a rapidly growing gig economy that, together, are forcing businesses that wish to partake in strategic workforce planning—with regards to attracting and retaining top talent—to relook payroll processes. 

As a result, many companies in Singapore have turned to payroll outsourcing services or are at least on the hunt to find a suitable partner out of the top payroll outsourcing companies in Singapore. However, payroll management is a complex process, and businesses that wish to form fruitful strategic partnerships should familiarise themselves with major workforce trends such that they can better discern the suitability of their discovered third-party payroll service providers in Singapore. 

We at Liberte—an award-winning agency for outsourced payroll solutions and payroll services—have thus put together this piece for ease of your reference, detailing 3 dominant workforce trends in 2022, how they impact payroll management, and why payroll outsourcing services may be beneficial for businesses in Singapore. 

1. An Increasingly Remote Workforce

The trend of remote working has grown tremendously in popularity; it is now much easier for businesses to access diverse talent from markets all over the world — it is also often beneficial, due to a larger talent pool to choose from and the potential for significant cost-savings inherent to more affordable labour markets.

In terms of payroll management, businesses that engage in hiring remote workers have to make cross-border multi-currency salary payments multiple times a month. Increased agility is a must in such payment processes, and can be acquired through cloud-based payroll solutions and a commitment to staying atop international tax laws and regulations. 

However, the two can be extremely costly if they are to be developed in-house rather than outsourced, not just in terms of capital expenses but also the time it takes to establish the required systems and processes needed for quality control. 

In this regard, outsourced payroll solutions can be greatly beneficial to businesses that have chosen to build a remote workforce. Not only do such partnerships allow businesses to leverage access to top expert knowledge and expensive software and equipment included in engaging payroll outsourcing services, but also provides companies in Singapore with a safety net with regards to costly mistakes involving tax inaccuracy and failure of payment causing legal complications and unwanted turnovers. 

2. Gig Economies and Pay-As-We-Go

The large shifts in the global market caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in some industries experiencing significant shrinking while others expand exponentially, with much of the latter turning to outsourced payroll solutions to better capitalise on rapid industry growth.

This unique combination of sudden unemployment in certain sectors and a surge in demand for labour in others has given rise to an expanding global gig economy. Those let go due to budget-cutting measures or permanent closure of firms turn to the gig economy for freelance work, while businesses who find themselves unable to cope with unforseen growth look to the gig economy for ad-hoc labour.  

However, this brings about numerous payroll-specific issues for businesses partaking in the gig economy. Contingent payroll management can be extremely complex, and leaves much room for human-error when not engaging professional payroll outsourcing services. 

Regardless, businesses that wish to leverage labor from the gig economy to capture an increased market share amidst rapid industry growth must be able to adopt a pay-as-we-go methodology in payroll management to facilitate near-instant, flexible and compliant payment for completed work.

Access to innovative integrated technology, advanced payroll information systems and payroll management best practices is a must, and can be easily acquired by partnering with top payroll outsourcing companies in Singapore. 

3. Transformed Talent Management Efforts

Lastly, there has also been a change in employee expectations over recent years. Increased alternative work arrangements due to COVID-19 has incited many to reflect upon what they truly want from their careers. 

Businesses today have to adopt more personalised benefit packages if they want to attract and retain top talent, along with payroll management solutions that can cope with increased diversity in employee compensation packages. Flexible work policies and personalised benefits can be easily taken advantage of or cause strife between individual employees if payroll management systems fail to ensure fairness and equality when it comes to rewarding workers. 

Navigating this complex web of transformed talent management efforts and its impact on payroll management is not at all an easy task, but an essential one for businesses to fulfil if they desire sustainable success.

Partner with Liberte for Quality Outsourced Payroll Solutions

Liberte is an award-winning payroll service provider that ranks amongst the top payroll outsourcing companies in Singapore. 

Partner with Liberte for outsourced payroll solutions that will help you and your business keep pace with ever-changing workforce trends. Get in touch with us today.