by HRHQ Editorial Team
A leading global professional services firm, Aon, recentlyy published a new analysis that reveals 1 in 4 (25%) businesses in Ireland have yet to take any action to prepare for the introduction of pension auto-enrolment ahead of its launch on January 1st 2026.
In May this year, Aon conducted an analysis of 202 client occupational pension schemes to assess organisational preparedness for auto-enrolment and the steps being taken in response. Auto-enrolment is a new retirement savings system for employees that will be introduced in January 2026 to automatically bring up to 800,000 private sector workers, who currently do not have a pension, into a scheme.
Findings show that 59% of surveyed organisations have developed a strategic roadmap for pension-auto-enrolment, six months out from its launch on January 1st. However, more work remains ahead to make sure businesses are fully prepared for the transformative changes necessary across payroll, people and processes.
Only 7% of organisations have fully updated internal systems and legal documents ahead of the launch, while just 4% of businesses have reached the stage of communicating to employees around the implementation of auto-enrolment.
As part of their efforts to prepare for the significant change that lies ahead, a majority (62%) of businesses are planning to enrol appliable employees in an existing pension scheme. This can help to enhance efficiency and avoid the complexity of running both an occupational scheme and the auto-enrolment scheme in parallel.
The analysis shows that 85% of organisations in Ireland have concerns about the introduction of pension auto-enrolment. The additional costs are the main concern for more than half (52%) of businesses. This is closely followed by concerns, raised by 48% of organisations, around the additional complexity of running an existing occupational pension scheme in parallel to auto-enrolment.
The findings highlight the positive impact auto-enrolment can have in creating a more equitable pensions landscape and meeting the evolving needs of Ireland’s workforce. 35% of organisations believe that the new system of auto-enrolment will help attract and retain high-calibre talent by strengthening their employee value proposition as they navigate a highly competitive market for talent.
