What scenarios are organisations forecasting and planning for?
of the organisations surveyed anticipate making further investment of some kind, in preparation for auto-enrolment
Investment and financial forecasts
“The Irish government anticipates a significant build spend on its new pension systems. Does your organisation expect further investment may be needed in any of the following?”
A vast majority (70%) of the organisations surveyed anticipate making further investment of some kind, with only 30% selecting the ‘none’ option. The types of investment indicated were evenly spread across talent and expertise, forecasting and business intelligence, and system integrations.
The top selection was ‘payroll systems modernisation’, indicated by 30% of the sample as a likely place for additional spend in preparation for auto-enrolment.
"Auto-enrolment will automatically opt in employees, with the option to opt out. Roughly what percentage of employees at your organisation would you expect to take part in the pension scheme?"
Uptake of the new pension regime is likely to be influenced by several factors, including employee age, financial position, and the perceived impact of contributions on take-home pay.
Cost-of-living concerns may factor in, depending on the situation six months after automatic enrolment, which is when savers will first get the option to leave.
Respondents expect between 60 and 89% of their colleagues to want to take part in the scheme. Although it’s too early to assess how accurate these estimates are, a decade after the introduction of auto-enrolment in the UK, the workforce reached 79% workplace pension participation.
In the next section, we will consider the UK rollout in more detail. What learnings can organisations in Ireland benefit from as they get ready to take the same step?