Australian companies focus on Earned Wage Access to retain staff
New data shows Australian companies are improving staff retention rates by up to 39% by offering their workers flexible pay.
Australian Earned Wage Access (EWA) provider Paytime has analysed the staff retention rates of companies using their platform and found an average increase in staff tenure of over 18% and as high as 39% in some industries.
“With the cost of living being a major pain point for employees at the moment, more and more employers are looking at what will help alleviate the financial stress of their staff,” says Paytime CEO, Steven Furman.
“Giving workers access to their earned wages before payday is a simple, effective and proven way for companies to increase the average tenure of their staff,” he says.
“Forward-thinking companies are realising that a focus on financial wellbeing is critical in the current economic climate and with a tight labour market,” says Mr Furman.
Earned wage access allows employees to access a portion of their pay when it suits them so they do not have to rely on-demand pay advance apps, BNPL schemes or payday loans to make ends meet between pay cycles.
In the US and UK Earned Wage Access is already a commonplace offering with Bupa, Amazon, McDonalds, KFC, Virgin Active, Target, Unilever, Hilton Hotels, Paypal, Tesla and many other companies which have this in place for their staff.
Paytime has seen a 600% surge in enquiries over the past year as more Australians live paycheque to paycheque, struggling with rising interest rates and the cost of living.
“Even those that are on higher salaries are using Paytime to put their salary into their mortgage offset accounts on a weekly basis to save on interest, fees and charges, in order to pay down the mortgage quicker,” says Mr Furman.
“The number of earned wage access requests we’re processing through the app has increased by more than 340% over the past 12 months,” he adds.
“We’ve also found implementing flexible pay improves staff morale, with 73% of users stating they feel more in control of their finances after implementing and using the app,” he says.
