HR tech companies to watch in 2022
More time to develop your employees, better and faster recruiting processes, plus streamlined payroll accounting - smart HR tech solutions can significantly simplify the day-to-day work of HR professionals. But which companies will make a particular mark on the scene in 2022? Fabian Zeitler, Senior Communications Director at PIABO, has put together an overview.
The need for HR departments to step up to the increased demand for their services within their organisations seems to be more critical than ever this year. HR professionals have a two-fold crisis on their hands: On the one hand, the pandemic has increasingly led employees to demand that employers offer them additional flexibility and a sense of purpose in their work. On the other hand, new talent is as contested as a free spot on the beach on a hot summers day. According to an EY survey, one in two German employees is thinking about changing jobs in the near future. The shortage of skilled workers, which is already prevalent in many industries, doesn't help either. So the challenges of the "Great Resignation" are being exacerbated by an intensifying "War for Talent".
Thus it's no wonder that HR tech software is currently experiencing a boom. Well-known investors are throwing an unprecedented amount of money at these companies. According to PitchBook data, VCs invested more than 12.3 billion US dollars in HR tech start-ups worldwide last year. That's about 3.6 times the capital they raised in 2020. And in 2022? By the end of January, there had been four mega-deals worth more than $100 million. In sum, HR technology companies have already raised a whopping 1.4 billion US dollars this year.
But who are the major players within the HR tech scene that HR professionals and investors should keep on their radar? An – admittedly incomplete – overview:
Rippling
Describes itself as: Workforce Platform
What they do: Rippling is an HR software for managing and automating workflows that affect HR and IT departments - from talent management and payroll to apps used by employees and hardware used in the company.
Investors include: Sequoia Capital Global Equities & Global Growth, Greenoaks, Kleiner Perkins and Founders Fund
Leapsome
Describes itself as: Performance Management & Employee Engagement Software
What they do: As a platform, Leapsome combines tools for managing goals and OKRs, performance reviews and 360 feedback, learning and onboarding, employee engagement surveys, feedback and recognition, as well as meetings.
Notable customers include: Babbel, Spotify and Mercedes Benz
Recruitee
Describes itself as: Collaborative recruiting software
What they do: Recruitee helps companies build successful teams and collaboratively make better hiring decisions. The software includes sourcing, applicant management, recruiting analytics and more.
Notable customers include: Die Autobahn, Breitling and Trusted Shops
PayFit
Describes itself as: Digital HR Software
What they do: PayFit's primary goal is to help smaller companies without large HR departments manage all their HR data in one place, making payroll automated and digital.
Investors include: General Atlantic, Eurazeo, Bpifrance and Accel
Workday
Describes itself as: Enterprise Management Cloud
What they do: Workday, a publicly-traded company, provides customers with access to diverse cloud applications - including financial, HR, planning and analytics management - in a single system.
Notable customers include: Adobe, NBC and Netflix
Greenhouse
Describes itself as: Recruiting and Hiring Software
What they do: Greenhouse covers the complete recruiting process - including digital onboarding. In addition to tracking the application process, Greenhouse also enables job postings and sourcing to be carried out directly via the software. Greenhouse aims to make personnel decisions fairer and more equitable using a data-driven hiring approach.
Notable customers include: HelloFresh, trivago and Viessmann
Personio
Describes itself as: The People Operating System
What they do: Personio offers SMEs a holistic HR platform for recruiting, HR management and payroll. Using People Workflow Automation, customers can also automate their workflows.
Notable customers include: Statista, Turck and About You
Staffbase
Describes itself as: Employee app and intranet platform
What they do: Staffbase offers customers an internal communications platform with a customised design that connects companies and their employees - at the desktop, via email, chat or through an app.
Notable customers include: Aldi, DHL and Audi
Staffery
Describes itself as: Recruiting Tool Box
What they do: Staffery's recruiting software with its "autopilot" helps companies find the right applicants for open positions quickly and as cost-effectively as possible. The focus is on job search engines such as Indeed, Jobrapido and others.
Notable customers include: Lidl, C&A and HAYS
Workmotion
Describes itself as: Global HR solutions at your fingertips
What they do: Workmotion supports companies in global employee management. The software simplifies international staffing, onboarding and HR processes in over 160 countries.
Investors include: Activant Capital, XAnge and Picus Capital
talentbay
Describes itself as: Career network for students and companies
What they do: talentbay brings together students and companies. Companies can present themselves and their jobs on the platform, while high potentials can use the network via app like Tinder to find suitable job offers.
Notable customers include: KPMG, Tchibo and Axa
TAXMARO
Describes itself as: All-in-one payroll solution
What's behind it: TAXMARO's software provides customers with personalized payroll support. In addition, there are features for personnel management such as the digital personnel file as well as vacation and absence management.
Notable customers include: Nextbike, Kenbi and searchmetrics
Talent Tree
Describes itself as: an executive search firm specializing in scale-ups
What they do: With a sophisticated HR process, Talent Tree's recruiters help start-up entrepreneurs and tech pioneers find the right personalities to achieve their purpose and business goals.
Well-known clients include: etepetete, SPRK.global and Tesla.
Fabian Zeitler is Senior Communications Director at PIABO. For eight years, he has been serving clients from a wide variety of industries - including many from the HR tech sector. Would you like to learn more about how PIABO can help your HR tech company with communications or is your company missing from the list? Then feel free to contact Fabian.
