Report: Freelance Tech Talent Follows Faster Digital Payments

As consumers face increasingly constrained personal budgets in the face of growing economic pressures, many have turned to gig work as a secondary income source, with 16% of all consumers saying they had done gig work at some point to make ends meet. At the same time, companies that understand the benefits of having a workforce that isn’t distracted by financial stress are working on approaches to compensation that will relieve some of that pressure.

Gig work has exploded in recent years in response to increased demand for alternative income and increased demand for such services as delivery aggregators during the pandemic. In addition, the move to remote work has contributed to more and more workers taking on remote freelance work either as a side gig or a primary means of income. At the same time, the economy has seen significant growth in faster payment rails, peer-to-peer (P2P) payments solutions and the use of mobile wallets, both as a means of paying and getting paid. This growth in payment options has fed consumer expectations for more convenient, on-demand payments, and that in turn has highlighted the degree to which legacy payroll approaches are often inconvenient and slow.

In this month’s Expanding Payments Choice Playbook, PYMNTS examines the growing demand for better payment options for workers, whether they are full-time employees or part-time freelancers, and the competitive advantage for employers in offering payment flexibility that attracts and retains top talent.

Around The Payments Choice Ecosystem

In the United Kingdom, 14% of employers said they have implemented payment processes that make employees’ pay available before their regular payday, while 5% are enabling workers to choose how often they are paid. Additionally, 20% of U.K. employers said they offer employees interest-free loans to meet emergency or unexpected expenses, such as covering the cost of a move that is not work-related. The growing interest in greater payroll flexibility comes as U.K. employers increasingly recognize that financial stress impacts not just the personal lives of workers, but also how those employees function at work.

In addition to keeping up with faster payment options and changes to worker payroll expectations, employers need to have an eye on the horizon for ongoing developments. Recently, 36% of U.S. human resource leaders and employees said they were interested in cryptocurrencies as a payment option for their total compensation or as part of a larger compensation package. Forty-two percent also said they are interested in considering NFTs as a potential means of providing performance awards.

For more on these stories and other payments choice developments, check out the Tracker’s News and Trends section.

10x Management On How Competitive Payment Terms Helps Retain Top Talent

Technology freelancers and contractors have a significant role in today’s economy, and companies that want to attract the top talent need to implement modern payment schemes that do not leave talent waiting weeks or months for compensation. In this month’s Feature Story, Rishon Blumberg, co-founder of technology talent agency 10x Management, talks about how the agency works with companies and top technology freelancers to ensure timely and reliable compensation.

PYMNTS Intelligence: Offering Gig Workers Better Payment Options

Growth in the availability of accurate, transparent and expedited payment options has fostered an expectation among gig workers for real-time payment options that meet their financial needs. This expectation has become a real economic need for many freelancers and contractors following the economic pressures that have developed since the onset of the pandemic. At the same time, the employment marketplace remains competitive, with the best talent able to choose the employers who can provide the payment options that meet their needs.

This month’s PYMNTS Intelligence takes a look at understanding the needs and expectations of gig economy workers and how employers can tailor their compensation packages to attract top talent.

About the Tracker

The Expanding Payments Choice Playbook, a PYMNTS and Onbe collaboration, examines the latest trends and developments shaping the payments choice space and the impact of real payments choice on the ability to recruit and retain top freelance talent.