For frontline employees, the decision to accept a shift can involve much more than hourly pay. Commuting costs, childcare, schedule flexibility and access to mobile technology increasingly shape how workers evaluate employers. New research from DailyPay and Workday finds a persistent gap between what hourly frontline workers consider important and how satisfied they are with the workplace systems available to them.
Frontline workforce technology has traditionally focused on operational necessities such as scheduling, time tracking and payroll. But new research suggests those systems are increasingly becoming part of the employee experience—and potentially influencing whether workers accept shifts, remain with an employer or look elsewhere.
DailyPay and Workday surveyed 2,208 U.S. adults aged 18 to 45 who are employed and paid hourly through The Harris Poll between April 23 and May 2, 2026. The study, The Frontline Worker Expectation Gap, examines how workers view scheduling, compensation transparency and digital workplace tools.
One of the clearest findings concerns the economics behind shift decisions. Seventy-eight percent of respondents said they calculate expenses such as gas, commuting and childcare before deciding whether to accept a new shift. Nearly half, or 46%, said they borrow money between pay periods, while 69% reported checking their pay after each shift.
The findings point to three interconnected expectations: greater autonomy over time and money, transparency around compensation and communication, and access to useful digital tools.
The gap between expectations and employee satisfaction is substantial. DailyPay and Workday report that 72% of respondents consider control over their work schedule important, but only 51% are very satisfied with the control they receive.
Pay is an even stronger priority. High wages were important to 88% of respondents, while pay clarity was important to 84%. Yet only 57% said they were very satisfied with pay clarity.
Digital access shows a similar divide. Mobile tools were important to 70% of respondents, compared with 53% who were very satisfied with the tools available to them.
For employers, these preferences increasingly intersect with recruiting and retention. Forty-five percent of surveyed frontline workers ranked their schedule among their top three factors when accepting their current job, behind pay.
On-demand pay also emerged as a potentially important differentiator. According to the research, 77% said access to on-demand pay influences their decision when choosing between two competitive job offers.
The findings also add nuance to the role of AI in frontline work. While 50% of respondents said they worry AI could replace their jobs, workers whose employers already use AI were more likely to report a positive effect: 64% said AI has had a positive impact on their work.
Digital tools were cited by 36% as productivity enhancers, while 34% said AI improves productivity. Another 34% said digital tools improve communication with managers.
That creates an important distinction for HR technology buyers. Frontline employees may not necessarily be asking for more technology; they are looking for technology that removes friction from everyday work.
The competitive HR technology landscape increasingly reflects that requirement. Platforms from Workday, UKG, Dayforce, Oracle and SAP combine workforce management, payroll, scheduling and employee data, while specialist providers address areas such as earned wage access and frontline engagement.
For enterprises, the challenge is connecting these capabilities rather than deploying isolated tools. Scheduling, pay information, shift management and employee communication can directly affect how workers experience the organization.
The research also suggests that expectations may be moving faster than workplace infrastructure. More than half of respondents—52%—said they do not expect their employer to address the gaps identified in the study.
For HR and workforce leaders, that makes frontline technology an employee-experience issue as much as an operational one. The systems used to schedule a shift, understand earnings or communicate with a manager can shape the worker’s perception of the employer long before a formal engagement survey measures it.
Market Landscape
The frontline workforce technology market is converging around workforce management, payroll, employee financial wellness, mobile HR and AI-enabled employee experiences.
Large HCM ecosystems such as Workday, SAP and Oracle compete with workforce specialists such as UKG and Dayforce, while providers such as DailyPay focus on specific employee financial needs.
The result is a market moving toward connected frontline experiences. For hourly employers, scheduling flexibility and pay transparency are no longer isolated HR functions; they can influence recruitment, retention and day-to-day productivity.
The DailyPay and Workday research was commissioned from The Harris Poll and weighted across several demographic and employment characteristics. Its findings should be interpreted as survey results rather than a universal measure of all frontline workers.
Top Insights
- DailyPay and Workday’s survey identifies gaps between frontline workers’ expectations for schedule control, pay clarity and mobile workplace technology.
- Seventy-eight percent of surveyed hourly workers consider expenses such as commuting and childcare before deciding whether to accept a shift.
- On-demand pay appears influential in job competition, with 77% saying access to it affects choices between competitive employment offers.
- Workers remain concerned about AI displacement, yet 64% of those whose employers already use AI report a positive impact on their work.
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