Executive Summary

The hourly labor market is the backbone of the U.S. economy — 80 million workers (approximately half of the US workforce) generating up to $5 trillion in GDP. Yet hundreds of billions and up to trillions in inefficiencies hold it back, driven by outdated systems, predatory intermediaries, and broken workforce management. Workers are burdened by debt, while businesses face chronic unreliability.

WorkWhile envisions a better future and is building towards it. Our AI-powered platform reimagines the labor market — unlocking productivity, elevating worker well-being, and driving sustainable growth. We believe in shared prosperity: when workers thrive, businesses soar. We've proven it’s possible — and now, we're scaling to transform an entire sector.

The Underserved Majority: The Heart of the American Workforce

While tech companies celebrate record growth, America’s hourly workforce — the backbone of our economy across retail, logistics, manufacturing, and hospitality — faces a far harsher reality. Low wages that can't cover basic living costs and unpredictable schedules leave millions trapped in financial vulnerability. It's not just about small paychecks; it’s about an economy where most workers can’t absorb a $1,000 surprise expense — and one in three couldn't even cover $400.\

This financial strain forces workers into expensive debt cycles just to survive. Mortgages are often out of reach. Instead, credit cards, payday loans, and earned wage access products are lifelines — covering basic needs like housing, healthcare, and childcare. Hourly workers now spend an average of up to 16% of their income just servicing unsecured debt (i.e., interest across credit cards, payday loans, earned wage access products, medical debt, and student loans) — a crushing burden that leaves little room for stability, let alone upward mobility.

The cost isn't just financial — it’s cognitive. Constant money stress erodes focus, productivity, and well-being. A Princeton study found that financial strain can lower cognitive function as much as losing a full night's sleep. Every day, workers juggle mental math just to make ends meet, at the expense of their performance and potential.

And the challenges extend far beyond today’s bills. Without access to employer-sponsored training, predictable schedules, or opportunities to upskill, too many hourly workers are locked out of economic advancement — exactly when the digital economy demands it most.

Addressing this challenge demands more than just higher wages. It requires a new model: one that delivers flexible schedules, access to benefits, responsible financial tools, and equitable pathways to real skill development.

Business Challenges: Absenteeism, Churn, and Losses

The challenges on the business side are just as urgent. Across every major sector, the reliability crisis in America's hourly workforce is a growing operational and financial threat. Chronic absenteeism, high turnover, widening skills gaps, and broken training systems are driving massive instability — and it's costing businesses dearly.

Today, companies are spending approximately $1.5 trillion annually on costs and inefficiencies tied to the hourly workforce — nearly one-third of the $4.8 trillion they spend on the hourly workforce. Direct costs like HR overhead, staffing agency fees, and working capital needs eat up around $470 billion. Industry analysis shows that indirect costs, including absenteeism, churn, and worker unavailability, add approximately another $1.03 trillion in lost productivity. These numbers don’t just reflect missed shifts — they represent millions of fractured operations, delayed deliveries, lost customers, and weakened brands.

And the true impact runs deeper. Churn and absenteeism erode team morale, degrade customer experiences, drain institutional knowledge, and exhaust already stretched management teams. Our research uncovers clear root causes: absenteeism fueled by physical and mental health challenges, stress, and poor workplace conditions; turnover driven by low wages, unpredictable schedules, lack of growth opportunities, and poor leadership; and a widening skills gap worsened by the accelerating pace of technology and shifting workforce demographics.

Training could be the solution — but today’s programs are often outdated, inaccessible, or fail to deliver real return on investment, leaving workers unprepared and employers frustrated.

At WorkWhile, we see this not just as a cost problem — but as an investment opportunity. Building a reliable, empowered hourly workforce is a lever for operational excellence, superior customer experience, and long-term business competitiveness. Companies that get this right won't just survive the next decade — they'll lead it.

Labor Market Intermediaries: Significant Inefficiencies

In theory, labor markets should be a direct connection between employers and workers. In practice, they are heavily shaped by Labor Market Intermediaries (LMIs) — from traditional staffing agencies to modern online platforms and financial institutions — meant to streamline hiring and provide wage financing. But instead of adding efficiency, today’s LMIs are creating friction and extracting massive value from the system. Specifically:

• Technological underinvestment: Incumbent staffing intermediaries exhibit insufficient technology adoption, leading to operational inefficiencies and increased transaction costs.
• Elevated talent management costs: High worker churn necessitates continuous, costly sourcing and recruitment efforts.
• Financial instability: Irregular and delayed wage disbursements and high interest rates exacerbate workers’ financial vulnerability, resulting in substantial debt accumulation and associated fees.

The result? Systemic inefficiencies that burden both workers and businesses – and stall economic growth. Our research shows that LMIs are taking up to 24% of the overall hourly wages gross billings.  Financial intermediaries including banks, and all types of lenders are taking the bulk of that: approximately $800B USD on a total of annual hourly wages of $4.8T USD, and that even excludes Mortgages, when available.

WorkWhile: Putting AI to Work for the Workforce

At WorkWhile, we believe there’s a better way — a technology-first, worker-centric model that restores efficiency, fairness, and shared prosperity to the labor market. Our AI-powered platform is designed not to replace workers, but to empower them, while driving real business results. WorkWhile’s mission is simple: create a thriving, efficient labor market where worker well-being and business productivity go hand in hand.

We believe WorkWhile can unlock massive value — cutting into the up to $1.03 trillion in indirect business costs and the approximately $1.27 trillion in hard costs currently driven by staffing agencies, internal talent teams, and lenders. By eliminating inefficiencies and creating a more resilient workforce, we're not just improving the economics of labor — we're reshaping it.

And at the heart of it all is a new philosophy: one that prioritizes people. WorkWhile is built to elevate workers — providing financial stability, investing in upskilling, and preparing them for the future economy. When workers thrive, businesses thrive. That’s the future we’re building — and it’s already within reach.

How it Works

At the core of WorkWhile is a powerful AI engine — designed to intelligently match millions of hourly workers with the right shifts, ensuring businesses get reliable, skilled talent exactly when they need it. No delays. No gaps. Just on-time, high-quality work, backed by tailored training and seamless execution.

We've already filled hundreds of thousands of jobs from a pool of over one million workers — earning high satisfaction from both businesses and workers alike.
WorkWhile is revolutionizing hourly work with game-changing results:

• Unmatched efficiency: 90%+ fill rates, 96%+ show rates, and 90%+ return rates — delivering unprecedented reliability and slashing the indirect costs tied to absenteeism and churn.
• Significant cost savings: Organic growth and reduced turnover cut operating costs dramatically and virtually eliminate talent management overhead.
• Empowered workforce: On-demand training, rapid pay, and continuous upskilling drive exceptional worker satisfaction, with eNPS scores topping 50+.
• Working capital efficiency: We pay our workers on time using our own capital — eliminating the need for customers to tie up funds or rely on expensive financing.

Our AI doesn’t just fill shifts — it optimizes the full worker lifecycle, from recruitment to retention, with data-driven precision and human insight. WorkWhile builds lasting, high-trust relationships between businesses and workers — creating a labor market that works better for everyone.

Taking Care of Our Workers

At WorkWhile, our greatest asset — and our deepest commitment — is to our workers. We are a worker-first company, built on the belief that true labor market efficiency is only possible with a healthy, skilled, and financially stable workforce.

We start by sourcing the very best talent — and then treating them better. We invest our own working capital to ensure workers get paid as fast as money moves. We offer free primary care through telehealth and guarantee human-based support within five minutes whenever they need help.

But we don't stop at care — we invest in growth. Ongoing training, upskilling, and continued education are core to our model, helping workers advance their careers and secure their futures.

And the impact of WorkWhile is already clear:

• 78% of our workers cite fast pay as critical to their ability to work.
• 73% depend on WorkWhile to reach their long-term financial goals.
• Only 12% of workers still prefer traditional 9–5 jobs — signaling that flexible work, through platforms like WorkWhile, is the future of financial security and professional development.

At WorkWhile, we’re not just creating jobs. We're building a better, more resilient workforce — and transforming lives along the way.

Bending the Curve on Labor Efficiency

For the past 15 years, the U.S. economy has seen steady productivity gains — with output per hour worked increasing by roughly 11% every five years, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Much of this progress was fueled by automation and technological innovation.

Yet when you factor in rising labor costs and mounting inefficiencies, those gains have been wiped out. True labor efficiency — measured as output divided by the total cost of labor — has actually been declining for over a decade.

At WorkWhile, we are laser-focused on reversing this trend. Our AI-powered platform is engineered to drive a step-change in labor efficiency — not just by boosting productivity, but by systematically reducing the massive direct and indirect costs that erode gains across the labor market.

Our ambition is bold: to 10x the labor efficiency metric by 2030.

By eliminating friction, slashing inefficiencies, and empowering a stronger workforce, WorkWhile is poised to unlock a new era of sustainable productivity — and deliver extraordinary value to businesses, workers, and the economy at large.

Welcoming Jobs Back – and Building a Stronger Workforce

While much of the national conversation focuses on bringing jobs back to the U.S., at WorkWhile, we focus on what we do best: empowering the American workforce through our technology.

Our AI-driven platform isn’t just built to support job repatriation — it’s designed to welcome, optimize, and elevate every job, whether new or existing. We are building the infrastructure to ensure that as opportunities return, they do so into a stronger, more resilient, and more empowered workforce.

We invite workers and businesses alike to join us on this journey — to help create a labor market rooted in shared prosperity, where growth, opportunity, and innovation are accessible to all.

At WorkWhile, we’re not just preparing for the jobs of tomorrow — we’re shaping the future of work today.