Best Workforce Software in 2023

by Imed Bouchrika, Phd
Chief Data Scientist & Head of Content

The shift towards hybrid, remote, and more flexible working conditions is becoming more blatant. Deskless workers currently make up 80% of the global workforce. Furthermore, workers are willing to forego a pay increase for the opportunity to work from home (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2022). Consequently, businesses are doing their best to adapt to the new norm in working environments to hopefully hold on to valuable employees and avoid losing them to competitors.

In response, organizations are scouring the software-as-a-service (SaaS) market to find the perfect platforms that can help them effectively and efficiently hire, onboard, manage, and keep digital workers. As a result, the demand for workforce software has significantly increased, and more SaaS providers are creating and offering all-in-one, end-to-end business management solutions, including accounting software, time tracking, and employee self-service (ESS) portals.

Our team at Research.com did our research on which workforce management products offer great options for integration, ease of use, pricing, scalability, and key features. Along with those, we considered which workforce management solutions could best adapt to industry trends and came up with this list.

Best Workforce Software Table of Contents

• Workforce Software Statistics
• Workforce Software Trends
• List of Workforce Software

Workforce Software Statistics

The demand for workforce software has been increasing in the past years, and workforce software trends indicate this demand will only keep growing.

According to Market Insight Reports (2023), the global workforce management software market size is forecast to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.2% from 2023 to 2029. Additionally, the market size was valued at $2.7924 billion in 2022 and will be worth $4.8466 billion in 2029.

A Technavio (2023) market forecast and analysis report for 2023-2027 predicts that 36% of the global workforce management software market growth will originate from North America.

One of the factors for such rapid growth is that businesses need to address the challenges of managing a hybrid/remote/onsite workplace. Top challenges include maintaining culture, maintaining high performance, collaborating effectively, maintaining fairness, and employees not wanting to return in person (Deloitte, n.d).

Workforce management solutions enable organizations to be more flexible and efficient in overcoming such challenges. Communication and collaboration features are usually included in workforce software, as well as tools that optimize key tasks and provide actionable insights. All of these are used to motivate employees and streamline processes so individual employee and department goals will align with overall business objectives.

Workforce Software Trends

The current workforce software statistics and trends indicate that even if more offices return to onsite operations post-pandemic the remote work setup is here to stay. As of April 2021, 67% of workplace models continued with the remote setup, 27% stuck with hybrid, and only 6% went back onsite (Deloitte n.d.).

A report from Upwork Survey Key Findings on how remote work is changing business indicates that 40.7 million Americans will work remotely by 2025 (Upwork, 2020). McKinsey & Company (2022) also reports that 87% of workers will embrace the option to work from home for three days on average.

Simply put, the desire to have more flexible work arrangements hasn’t waned even if most of the world has opened up its borders and is in post-COVID recovery mode. Management and HR departments in organizations would benefit from paying close attention to workforce software trends so they can quickly adapt to the growing demand for a more flexible and deskless or officeless workforce.

As managers and HR departments continue to face unprecedented disruptions, they need to reassess their workforce management plans and approach. One vital strategy is employing workforce management technology that is designed to adapt to the needs of employees and provide solutions to current and future workforce trends.

Based on the latest workforce software statistics and reports, the workforce management software industry is helping businesses to be better prepared for the future of work by pushing for products with these features and functionalities:

• More reliance on automation and AI. One of the objectives of employing workforce software is to speed up processes and free up employees from tedious everyday tasks so they can focus on more meaningful and profit-oriented work. Furthermore, workforce management platforms are also meant to improve customer engagement and experience by integrating smarter customer relationship management (CRM) software. Taking all this into account, most workforce management software will offer chatbots, automated emails, and AI-powered tools, among other automation possibilities.
• Focus on employee autonomy, engagement, and growth. Onboarding processes will be more personalized and less time-consuming as new hires can access contracts, fill in forms, and install work tools from one platform. Workers will have more independence and flexibility in requesting for shift swaps, applying for leaves, and clocking in remotely with mobile time-in kiosks and smart internal communication tools. Microlearning and gamification or quizzes are also gaining popularity as new ways to train employees and keep them engaged.
• Faster and more accurate data collection and reporting. Identifying peak call volumes and spotting the factors affecting employee performance will no longer take weeks or months. Data and analytics will be faster, more detailed, customized, and more accurate. Team leaders and managers can quickly create shift schedules, speed up payroll corrections and updates using intelligent payroll software, and keep compliant with intelligent reporting as they access actionable insights in real-time. It is evident that businesses want to have faster access to valuable data, which greatly impacts employees and organizational stability, growth, and profitability. The Global Workforce Analytics Market is projected to reach $2.92 billion by 2028 (GlobeNewswire, 2022).

Those figures reflect how in-demand workforce management software is as more businesses realize it provides a plethora of out-of-the-box or customized workforce management features that can be easily scalable for SMEs and big enterprises. While they all have similar purposes—to automate and streamline workforce management tasks—each company will have unique requirements when choosing the best workforce software.

List of Best Workforce Software

Research.com has scoured through hundreds of available products in the market and carefully examined what they offer. We also considered workforce software trends to make sure you find the best solutions that allow you to efficiently adapt to the fast-changing workforce environment. Here, we highlight their key features and pricing so you can assess with more ease what workforce management software you should consider employing for your business needs.

1. Paylocity

Paylocity is an all-in-one HR and payroll management platform that offers flexible and customized products that can be integrated into your existing workforce management system using its developer-friendly APIs. There is also a Paylocity mobile app so employees have more flexibility in using the platform. The solutions it offers include streamlining payroll and scheduling, tracking applicants and personnel, administering benefits, talent and time management, custom checklists, dynamic reporting, and data insight. Paylocity customers range from SMEs to large enterprises in different industries, including nonprofits, healthcare, restaurant and hospitality, transportation and logistics, and financial services.

Paylocity Key Features:

• Provide more innovative and flexible options for employees to clock in using geofencing and mobile devices.
• Automate computations for shift differential pay.
• Give workers automatic notifications when they miss clocking in and make corrections in real-time.
• View accrued leave balances and approve employees’ requests for time off via web or mobile.
• Streamline scheduling by making capacity needs visible and accessible so workers can sign up for open shifts they want.

Pricing:

By quote.

2. Rippling

Rippling is a workforce management solution for businesses to run their HR, Finance, and IT all from one place. It allows you to conveniently process and automate a myriad of tasks normally done by different departments across the company, such as onboarding, payroll, task management, reporting, and building permission profiles. It provides solutions for organizations that require a single WMS platform that allows them to quickly scale up and manage a global and/or remote workforce. Rippling customers come from different industries, such as healthcare, marketing and advertising, technology, and nonprofits.

Rippling Key Features:

• Conduct onboarding processes—from signing contracts to installing work apps—in just 90 seconds.
• Manage team benefits in one integrated system.
• Finish payroll tasks in minutes while still ensuring accuracy.
• Streamline your recurring financial reports by sending them to different departments in one go.
• Receive notifications and recommended action plans for compliance infractions.

Pricing:

Rippling provides a customized quote and offers a starting price of $8 a month per user.

3. ADP Workforce Now

ADP Workforce Now offers intuitive technology that allows you to manage your HR, payroll, workforce, and talent acquisition from one dashboard on a single database. While it offers an all-in-one solution, this product is designed to suit varying business sizes and needs for both the local and global markets. It provides tools for HR management, workforce management, payroll, benefits, and talent acquisition and management. You can also integrate your existing management tools or APIs and business apps available on the ADP Marketplace. ADP Workforce customers include those in the manufacturing, retail, education, social services, and government sectors.

ADP Workforce Now Key Features:

• Gain insights into pay and earning trends.
• Recruit across more than 25,000 job sites using Job Target.
• Speed up your recruitment process by embedding ZipRecruiter, which identifies and matches job seekers with the best roles.
• Sync up with Microsoft Outlook® Calendar to automate time collection and scheduling.
• Receive support for country-specific and local compliance requirements.

Pricing:

By quote.

4. BambooHR

BambooHR is an all-in-one HR software crafted to make workforce management easier and more cost-efficient for small and medium businesses. Its goal is to make it easy for SMBs to streamline everyday tasks, including hiring, onboarding, payroll, workflows, records, reporting, and analytics. You can create a secure centralized employee database where you can add additional datasets. It is also possible to integrate your preferred applications with BambooHR or add on apps readily available in BambooHR’s Marketplace. BambooHR has clients in the fields of construction, finance, healthcare, and technology.

BambooHR Key Features:

• Improve every stage of hiring with applicant tracking tools.
• Automate your onboarding process to create a smoother first-day experience for new hires.
• Avoid double data entry and save time by installing a simple advanced single payroll system for employees.
• Gauge employee performance and satisfaction and gain insights on how to strengthen company culture using BambooHR Employee Satisfaction.
• Customize your employee database and control data access levels.

Pricing:

BambooHR provides quotes for pricing plans and optional add-ons. Its pricing is on a per-employee, per-month basis for organizations exceeding 20 employees and a monthly flat rate for companies with 20 or fewer employees. It also offers a 7-day free trial.

5. Paycom

Paycom is Human Capital Management software ideal for businesses that want an integrated workforce management suite that is accessible 24/7 from a desktop or mobile device. It allows HR departments to automate talent acquisition, time and attendance, payroll processes, compensation budgeting, and performance appraisals. It is designed for small, medium, and large businesses and is scalable to adjust to changes and growth in your organization. Paycom clients include dealerships, financial institutions, retailers, professional services, manufacturing companies, restaurants, hospitality establishments, and franchise businesses.

Paycom Key Features:

• Assist employees in building the right career paths using talent management analytics.
• Identify and resolve payroll errors before submission with Beti®.
• Let employees manage their own expenses, payroll, timecards, vacation requests, and benefits.
• Speed up your file organization processes and boost security for sensitive documents.
• Take advantage of government incentives with Tax Credits software that lets you identify, secure, and administer federal tax credits.

Pricing:

You can get in touch with Paycom sales representatives for a demo and pricing details.

6. greytHR

greytHR provides SaaS solutions for HR process automation and employee self-service. It is designed to be a user-friendly product that is flexible enough to meet the needs of organizations of varying sizes, industries, and nature of business, from the early stages of the business cycle until its expansion phase. You can purchase a suite of workforce management products—HR software, payroll software, leave management, attendance management, and employee self service—suited to your unique business needs. Ultimately, the goal of greytHR is to free up your HR department from repetitive everyday tasks so it can focus on creating more impactful programs for the growth of your workforce and business.

greytHR Key Features:

• Handle queries and grievances instantly and professionally with the ESS chatbot Bella.
• Speed up and streamline payroll processing with unlimited salary components and customizable salary structures.
• Provide more flexible leave policies using more than 50 configurable parameters.
• Establish more hassle-free rostering with automatic shift rotations.
• Empower employees by allowing them to manage certain HR tasks themselves through the Employee Self Service (ESS) web or mobile portal.

Pricing:

If you have 25 or fewer employees, you can sign up for a forever free Starter Plan with limited features. You can also opt for paid package plans (priced in Indian Rupees on its website). The starting price (beginning at around $43) for each package covers the first 50 employees and a set suite of workforce management apps and features. You can add the number of employees covered and the applications to use for an additional fee.

7. Ceridian Dayforce

Ceridian Dayforce is HCM software that provides a single platform for managing payroll, benefits, hiring, and workforce tasks. The Dayforce Payroll software comes with Dayforce Wallet, a prepaid credit card with a mobile app that employees can use to request regular payroll or on-demand pay. Its HR features are designed to give you key details about your workforce so you can provide them with better support and make more informed and proactive business decisions. Ceridian Dayforce customers come from many sectors, including sports entertainment, healthcare, manufacturing, as well as professional and business services.

Ceridian Dayforce Key Features

• Minimize the risk of non-compliance and stay on top of tax rules in different jurisdictions.
• Audit payroll data continuously with real-time data capture and calculations.
• Enable and engage employees in managing their schedules with the Dayforce Assistant voice and chat feature.
• Allow employees to make more informed decisions on which benefit plans to sign up for with Employee Benefits Software.
• Use AI and machine learning to speed up recruitment and assessment processes.

Pricing:

You need to contact Ceridian representatives to get pricing information.

8. Zoho People

Zoho People is a cloud-based HRM software designed for organizations to manage their workforce from anywhere. It is built to simplify HR operations and give employees more autonomy by using an all-in-one platform for onboarding, tracking and organizing attendance, performance reviews, training and development, analytics, and creating an employee database. For example, you can create a more cohesive and customized training program for your employees using its learning management system (LMS). Zoho People has a client base that stretches across many industries and sectors, including education, finance, media, healthcare, and information technology.

Zoho Key Features:

• Secure your data with data encryption and by setting profile permissions.
• Present a user-friendly platform accessible to both office workers and remote employees.
• Work with out-of-the-box functions or create your own forms and integrate third-party apps.
• Create targeted courses and encourage collaborative learning with LMS.
• Allow managers and employees access to self-service features, such as logging time, applying for leaves, and checking records.

Pricing:

Zoho People offers a free 30-day trial, after which you can sign up for a forever free plan covering up to 5 users. Or, you can select from one of the four software packages that are billed per user on an annual or monthly basis (starting at $1.5/user/month). You can also request a custom price quote from the Zoho People team.

9. Assembled

Assembled’s workforce management software provides the technology for an organization’s support operations so they can quickly adapt to evolving customer needs and have the data to improve overall team performance. The platform helps with scheduling, forecasting, performance management, vendor management, real-time management, and metrics management. For instance, if you are a company that manages several BPOs, you can easily collaborate with your vendors in creating multi-channel schedules and locking in headcount commitments. It also has third-party app integrations and product bundles that allow customer-centric businesses to be more flexible and easily scalable. Assembled has customers in fintech, healthcare, and retail.

Assembled Key Features:

• Upload your own forecast with accurate staffing requirements using Assembled’s API.
• Create more specific and accurate scheduling with access to all backlogs, workload predictions, and holiday forecasts.
• Act fast in diagnosing productivity gaps by quickly accessing agent metrics in real-time.
• Quickly identify under or over-staffing periods using staffing heat maps.
• Stay on top of vendor adherence, SLA, occupancy, and individual benchmarks when you access accurate reporting on agent and vendor performance.

Pricing:

Assembled has three tiers for its workforce management software plans: Core, Pro, and Enterprise. You need to get in touch with Assembled representatives to get a quote for these products. You can sign annual contracts with Assembled but you will be billed monthly, and you will be charged only for the number of agents who are scheduled in the Assembled platform. Eligible non-profits can also get discounts for the Pro package.

10. Zenefits

Zenefits is an online software solution that lets you connect your HR management tasks—including hiring, onboarding, scheduling, benefits, employee records management, payroll, and compliance—on one platform. The software has mobile support, allowing your employees access to their records from anywhere and giving them more flexibility with their work hours. Managers can also then conveniently approve any leaves, schedule changes, and salary adjustments online. There are also tools for improving companywide communication and employee engagement through surveys. Zenefits clients come from the aerospace, commerce, education, and retail industries.

Zenefits Key Features:

• Automate your compliance tasks and government filings to never miss a deadline.
• Streamline onboarding and make sure employees are ready to go on their first day.
• Automatically add new employees to the payroll and simplify the process of pro-rating their first pay and adding their benefits and deductions.
• Allow employees to choose which benefits they want to take advantage of and to stay updated on the latest changes to their benefits packages.
• Improve communication and flexibility in scheduling with real-time monitoring, notifications for schedule changes, and mobile clock-in terminals.

Pricing:

Zenefits lets you start with a base plan at a fixed per-month, per-employee rate, then choose add-ons for a per-month, per-employee rate. The base plans start from $8 (yearly) or $10 (monthly). Larger organizations can contact the Zenefits sales team to inquire about enterprise pricing.

11. NICE Workforce Management

NICE Workforce Management is AI-powered workforce management software that is part of the products offered by NICE, creators of cloud contact center solutions. Its marketing literature describes this platform as a workforce management product with an intuitive interface and patented AI and machine learning technology. You can speed up and improve workforce management administrative and maintenance tasks, freeing up managers and team leads so they can have more time for coaching, training, and taking the customer experience to another level. Nice has a client base in different business sectors, such as BPOs, telecommunications, collections, and retail.

NICE Workforce Management Key Features:

• Automate administrative jobs to reduce tedious everyday tasks.
• Simplify forecasting and scheduling to plan staffing needs faster and more accurately.
• Boost efficiency, reduce idle time, and increase employee engagement.
• Get more intelligent reporting and gain actionable insight on hitting your SLAs.
• Employ mobile scheduling and automated approval for shift bidding and time off to give your employees more flexibility.

Pricing:

You can get a free 60-day trial or request a pricing quote from the NICE team.

12. Connecteam

Connecteam is a one-stop business app that focuses on improving an organization’s workforce management strategy, including management for non-desk employees. This platform provides a combination of features that streamline and automate tasks mainly for operations, communications, and HR & skills. It is great for collaboration, time tracking, scheduling, creating checklists and forms, training, and more. You can use the Connecteam mobile app where all your employees, whether in the field or in headquarters, can stay in touch and receive updates. Customers for Connecteam come from many industries, including homecare, cleaning, field services, construction, food and beverage, manufacturing, and retail.

Connecteam Key Features:

• Oversee, assign, and dispatch shifts with just a few clicks even from your mobile device.
• Activate deskless workforce tools, such as GPS location tracking, online timesheets, payroll integrations, and geofencing.
• Improve collaboration with in-app communication tools.
• Create a culture of employee appreciation by simplifying trackers for milestones, achievements, and rewards.
• Create engaging and customizable training courses and quizzes.

Pricing:

After a 14-day free trial, you can choose from the Basic ($29/month), Advanced ($49/month), Expert ($99/month), and Enterprise plan. The monthly rates cover the first 30 users. If you have more than 30 people, you can add more employees to your plan for an additional fee per user. As for the Enterprise plan, you need to get in touch with a Connecteam product expert for a quote. Companies with less than 10 employees can also opt for the Small Business forever free plan.

13. Verint Workforce Management

Verint Workforce Management is a workforce management solution with a cloud-based intuitive interface. It is designed to help organizations boost ROI, improve customer experience, and increase employee satisfaction. You can choose from a suite of workforce management tools for digital-first engagement, real-time work, forecasting and scheduling, fraud and security, interaction insights (speech, text, and desktop analytics), knowledge management, engagement orchestration, customer experience management, conversational AI, and quality and compliance. Verint’s customer base includes businesses from the banking, insurance, retail, telecommunications, and public sectors.

Verint Workforce Management Key Features:

• Seamlessly combine a human and bot workforce to speed up customer service.
• Automate customer service responses with the Intelligent Virtual Assistant or a self-service chatbot.
• Use Verint Da Vinci AI and Analytics to access data and actionable insights.
• Give agents and supervisors more flexibility with automated pre-approved access to shift swaps, requests for time off, and schedule or task adjustments.
• Attend to backlogs quickly and improve back-office functions using Verint Back-Office Workforce Management solutions.

Pricing:

You need to contact Verint to get pricing information.

14. Planday

Planday is a workforce management tool that SMBs and enterprises can use to streamline their employee scheduling. This cloud-based software can be integrated with existing systems and can be used on web or mobile. The incorporated features include staff management, scheduling, communication, punch clock, and reporting. This platform was designed to give employees more flexibility and to be more proactive in creating team schedules, as well as to give managers the data and efficiency they need to make faster and smarter workforce decisions. Planday’s clients come from several sectors, including leisure, healthcare, hospitality, hotels, retail, and test and vaccinations.

Planday Key Features:

• Manage staff schedules, payroll, and reports even when on the go with the Planday App.
• Create independent schedules for different departments and specialized employees.
• Build a smarter schedule by quickly collecting data on employee skills, demand patterns, contracted hours, and work regulations.
• Minimize communication gaps and keep employees engaged with smarter communication tools.
• Compare weekly revenue to salary costs and forecast payroll costs using intelligent reporting and forecasting functions.

Pricing:

You can sign up for a 30-day free trial. After that, decide on which offered product package (priced in Euros on their website) matches your current business needs. Each bundle comes with a per-user per-month price (starting at about $2.69/user/month), and billing is done in increments of five. So, if you have 16 users, you will be billed for 20 users. There is also a start-up fee.

15. Playvox WFM

Playvox WFM is one of the products provided under the Playvox Workforce Engagement Management suite of tools. Designed to boost efficiency and reduce business costs, it employs AI, which improves the accuracy and speeds up the processes of your forecasting, scheduling, and intraday planning. It carries an intuitive design and can support concurrent work models for email, chat, and social media. Plus, it allows for remote workforce management and a live view across every channel and agent. Playvox is being used by businesses in different business industries, including travel, finance, retail, software as a service, and moving services.

Playvox WFM Key Features:

• Provide next-level CX with an omnichannel workforce management platform.
• Integrate with your favorite platforms with out-of-the-box or customizable API.
• Set predefined rules for flexible shift changes within the team.
• Quickly adjust and keep service levels and budgets on track by staying on top of planned vs actual staff conditions for all work types and in all departments and locations.
• Adjust capacity plans in real-time.

Pricing:

You can request a price quote and demo by contacting Playvox representatives.

Reimagining the Digital Workplace with the Right Workforce Software Solution

Many organizations were able to quickly pivot to a remote or hybrid work environment by employing business software and teleconferencing apps. However, it takes more than just having remote access to office applications to keep your digital workforce productive and happy. It helps to remember that your employees are the key factor to realizing your business goals. Consequently, that means finding workforce management solutions that allow your employees to stay connected and in sync no matter where, when, or how they choose to work. Consider what they need to collaborate better, work better, and achieve individual and company-wide business KPI targets and objectives.

References:

• Deloitte (n.d.). 2021 Return to Workplaces survey. https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/us/Documents/human-capital/us-2021-return-to-workplaces-survey.pdf
• Dua, A, Ellingurd, K, Kirschner, P, Luby, R, Palter, R, Pemberton, S (June 2022). Americans are embracing flexible work—and they want more of it. McKinsey & Company. https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/real-estate/our-insights/americans-are-embracing-flexible-work-and-they-want-more-of-it
• GlobeNewswire (2022). Workforce Analytics Market to Hit Sales of $2.92 By 2028 | More than 70% Organizations are Using Workforce Analytics for Cost Saving and Improved Decision Making. https://www.globenewswire.com/en/news-release/2022/11/03/2547754/0/en/Workforce-Analytics-Market-to-Hit-Sales-of-2-92-By-2028-More-than-70-Organizations-are-Using-Workforce-Analytics-for-Cost-Saving-and-Improved-Decision-Making.html
• Karageorge, E (November 2022). Workers would rather work from home than get a raise. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. https://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2022/beyond-bls/workers-would-rather-work-from-home-than-get-a-raise.htm
• Markets Insights Reports (January 2023). Global Workforce Management Software Market Growth (Status And Outlook) 2023-2029. https://www.marketinsightsreports.com/reports/010611326134/global-workforce-management-software-market-growth-status-and-outlook-2023-2029
• Technavio (January 2023). Global Workforce Management Software Market by Deployment, End-user, and Geography – Forecast and Analysis 2023-2027. https://www.technavio.com/report/workforce-management-software-market-industry-analysis
• Upwork (December, 2020). Upwork Study Finds 22% of American Workforce Will Be Remote by 2025. https://www.upwork.com/press/releases/upwork-study-finds-22-of-american-workforce-will-be-remote-by-2025