10 Best Manpower Planning Software to Streamline Staffing and Cut Labor Costs

Discover the best manpower planning software to optimize staffing, reduce labor costs, and boost efficiency with real-time analytics and seamless integration. Transform your workforce management today and stay ahead effortlessly.

Struggling to match staffing with business needs?

If forecasting workforce demand feels like guesswork, you are not alone. Many HR leaders get stuck with inaccurate headcounts, chaotic schedules, and costly overtime.

These challenges drain budgets and frustrate both managers and employees.

Relying on spreadsheets or outdated systems limits your response to shifting operations, leaving you exposed to compliance risks and missed opportunities to reduce costs. The right software gives you control and visibility that manual tools cannot.

A quality manpower planning solution integrates with existing HR systems, delivers real-time analytics, and effortlessly handles shifting schedules so you stay proactive instead of reactive.

In this article, I rank the 10 best manpower planning software for HR directors and operations leaders who need to streamline staffing while cutting labor costs.

You'll learn which tools offer the features, integration, and automation you need to drive efficiency.

Let’s get started.

Quick Comparison Table

Product Starting Price Best For
1. Saviom Contact for pricing Project-driven organizations
2. Deputy $3.50/user/month Shift-based businesses
3. Anaplan Contact for pricing Enterprise strategic planning
4. SAP SuccessFactors Contact for pricing Large enterprise HR
5. PeopleWorks Contact for pricing SMB HR management
#1

Saviom

Saviom is a resource management and workforce planning solution that helps you optimize your resource utilization and project profitability. It provides tools for forecasting demand, allocating resources, and tracking project progress in real time. This helps you make informed decisions about your workforce, ensuring you have the right people with the right skills for every project.

Saviom is particularly suitable if you need to manage a large pool of resources across multiple projects and departments. It offers features like 'what-if' analysis, capacity planning, and skill management, which helps you align your workforce with your strategic objectives and avoid under or over-utilization of your valuable resources.

✓ Pros

  • Real-time resource visibility
  • Accurate demand forecasting
  • Robust 'what-if' analysis
  • Optimizes resource allocation

✗ Cons

  • Interface can be complex
  • Steep learning curve
  • Initial setup time
  • Reporting needs improvement
Starting Price: Contact for pricing
Best For: Project-driven organizations
#2

Deputy

Deputy is a workforce management solution focused on simplifying employee scheduling, time tracking, and communication for shift-based businesses. It helps you create optimized schedules, manage time-off requests, and ensure compliance with labor laws. This makes it an excellent choice if you operate in industries like retail, hospitality, or healthcare with dynamic staffing needs.

Deputy also offers robust communication tools, allowing you to connect with your team, share announcements, and assign tasks efficiently. Its mobile app enhances flexibility for both managers and employees, making it easier to manage shifts on the go and improve overall operational efficiency in your business.

✓ Pros

  • Intuitive scheduling tools
  • Accurate time tracking
  • Easy team communication
  • Mobile app flexibility

✗ Cons

  • Pricing can add up
  • Limited advanced reporting
  • Integration sometimes complex
  • Customer support varies
Starting Price: $3.50/user/month
Best For: Shift-based businesses
#3

Anaplan

Anaplan is a connected planning platform that empowers your organization to make better, faster decisions by connecting data, people, and plans across your entire business. For manpower planning, it allows you to model various scenarios, forecast workforce needs, and align your talent strategy with business goals. This is crucial if your large enterprise requires sophisticated scenario planning and dynamic forecasting capabilities.

Anaplan's strength lies in its ability to integrate with various data sources and create flexible models, which helps you simulate the impact of different workforce strategies on your financials and operations. It provides a single source of truth for your planning, fostering collaboration and agility in your workforce planning processes.

✓ Pros

  • Advanced scenario modeling
  • Real-time data synchronization
  • Connects diverse plans
  • Scalable for enterprises

✗ Cons

  • High cost of ownership
  • Requires technical expertise
  • Complex implementation
  • Steep learning curve
Starting Price: Contact for pricing
Best For: Enterprise strategic planning
#4

SAP SuccessFactors

SAP SuccessFactors is a comprehensive human experience management (HXM) suite that includes robust modules for workforce planning and analytics. It helps you understand your current workforce, predict future needs, and identify skill gaps to ensure you have the right talent in place. This makes it an ideal choice for large organizations looking for an integrated approach to managing their entire employee lifecycle.

It offers tools for strategic workforce planning, succession planning, and talent acquisition, which allows you to align your people strategy with your business objectives. The analytics capabilities help you gain insights into workforce trends and make data-driven decisions about your talent management initiatives, improving overall organizational performance.

✓ Pros

  • Integrated HXM suite
  • Robust workforce analytics
  • Strong talent management
  • Scalable for enterprises

✗ Cons

  • Complex to implement
  • User interface dated
  • High licensing costs
  • Support can be slow
Starting Price: Contact for pricing
Best For: Large enterprise HR
#5

PeopleWorks

PeopleWorks is an integrated HR software solution designed to streamline various HR processes, including attendance, payroll, and performance management. For manpower planning, it helps you manage employee data, track leave, and monitor attendance, providing a clear picture of your current workforce availability. This is beneficial if your small to medium-sized business needs an affordable, all-in-one HR solution.

PeopleWorks simplifies administrative tasks, freeing up your HR team to focus on strategic initiatives. Its intuitive interface and comprehensive modules, from recruitment to exit management, ensure that your HR operations are efficient and compliant. It is especially useful for businesses in India, offering localized compliance features.

✓ Pros

  • Affordable HR solution
  • Integrated HR modules
  • Easy attendance tracking
  • Localized compliance

✗ Cons

  • Limited advanced analytics
  • Scalability concerns
  • Interface could improve
  • Customer support varies
Starting Price: Contact for pricing
Best For: SMB HR management
#6

UKG (formerly Kronos)

UKG (formerly Kronos) offers a suite of workforce management solutions that help you optimize your labor force, control costs, and improve productivity. For manpower planning, it provides tools for demand forecasting, scheduling, and time and attendance management. This makes it a strong contender if your organization needs to manage a complex hourly workforce and ensure compliance with labor regulations.

UKG's solutions are particularly effective for industries with large, distributed workforces, such as retail, manufacturing, and healthcare. Its robust analytics capabilities help you identify trends, optimize staffing levels, and make data-driven decisions to enhance operational efficiency and maintain compliance across your entire workforce.

✓ Pros

  • Robust scheduling features
  • Accurate time tracking
  • Strong compliance tools
  • Scalable for large teams

✗ Cons

  • Implementation can be lengthy
  • Interface can be complex
  • Higher cost of ownership
  • Updates can be disruptive
Starting Price: Contact for pricing
Best For: Hourly workforce management
#7

Workday

Workday is a cloud-based enterprise management solution that unifies HR, finance, and planning into a single system. For manpower planning, it provides comprehensive tools for workforce modeling, talent acquisition, and performance management. This makes it an excellent choice if your global enterprise needs a holistic view of your workforce and financial data to drive strategic decision-making.

Workday's predictive analytics and machine learning capabilities help you forecast future workforce needs, identify skill gaps, and optimize your talent strategy. It allows you to align your people strategy with your business objectives, ensuring you have the right talent in place to achieve your organizational goals and adapt to changing market conditions.

✓ Pros

  • Unified HR and finance
  • Advanced workforce analytics
  • Strong talent management
  • Global scalability

✗ Cons

  • Expensive for SMBs
  • Complex implementation
  • Integration challenges
  • Steep learning curve
Starting Price: Contact for pricing
Best For: Global enterprise solutions
#8

Talentsoft (acquired by Cegid)

Talentsoft, now part of Cegid, offers a comprehensive talent management suite that includes modules for recruitment, performance, learning, and core HR. For manpower planning, it helps you identify skill gaps, manage succession planning, and develop your employees to meet future business needs. This makes it suitable if your organization focuses on strategic talent development and retention.

Talentsoft provides tools to create personalized career paths, manage training programs, and assess employee potential, which ensures you build a skilled and adaptable workforce. Its focus on employee experience and continuous feedback helps you foster a culture of growth and engagement, aligning individual development with organizational goals.

✓ Pros

  • Strong talent development
  • Effective succession planning
  • Employee experience focused
  • Comprehensive HR suite

✗ Cons

  • Integration can be complex
  • Pricing not transparent
  • Customer support varies
  • Less emphasis on scheduling
Starting Price: Contact for pricing
Best For: Talent-focused HR
#9

Workforce Software

Workforce Software provides an award-winning workforce management suite that helps you optimize your global workforce with advanced scheduling, time and attendance, and absence management. For manpower planning, it allows you to accurately forecast labor demand, create compliant schedules, and effectively manage employee time. This is an excellent choice if your large enterprise operates across multiple geographies and needs to adhere to complex labor laws.

It offers sophisticated tools for compliance, labor analytics, and employee self-service, which helps you reduce labor costs, minimize compliance risk, and enhance employee engagement. The platform's flexibility supports diverse work models and global operations, making it suitable for complex workforce management challenges.

✓ Pros

  • Advanced global scheduling
  • Robust compliance features
  • Accurate time management
  • Optimizes labor costs

✗ Cons

  • Implementation is extensive
  • Interface can be dated
  • Higher cost of ownership
  • Requires dedicated resources
Starting Price: Contact for pricing
Best For: Global workforce compliance
#10

Wolters Kluwer Tagetik

Wolters Kluwer Tagetik offers a unified Corporate Performance Management (CPM) software solution that includes robust capabilities for financial and operational planning, including workforce planning. It helps you integrate your HR data with financial data to create accurate workforce budgets and forecasts. This makes it a great choice if your organization needs to align your people strategy with your financial planning and reporting.

Tagetik's platform enables you to model various workforce scenarios, analyze the financial impact of different staffing decisions, and ensure that your workforce costs are optimized. It provides a comprehensive view of your financial and operational performance, facilitating better decision-making and strategic alignment across your entire organization.

✓ Pros

  • Integrated financial planning
  • Accurate workforce budgeting
  • Robust scenario modeling
  • Strong reporting features

✗ Cons

  • Focus primarily financial
  • Implementation can be complex
  • Requires financial expertise
  • Not ideal for scheduling
Starting Price: Contact for pricing
Best For: Financial-led workforce planning

Conclusion

Ready to optimize your workforce planning?

Choosing the right tool can be tough when every platform claims to streamline staffing and control labor costs.

These solutions help you reduce manual work, improve forecasting, and boost workforce efficiency for your unique needs.

Here’s our top recommendation.

Saviom stands out for project-driven organizations that need flexibility and deep analytics—making it our top choice for dynamic manpower planning.

While Deputy excels with shift-based businesses and Anaplan is perfect for enterprise strategic planning, Saviom leads this roundup of best manpower planning software thanks to its robust scheduling engine and intuitive resource management features.

Get started with Saviom today and unlock smarter, more agile manpower planning.

Empower your teams and save on labor costs.

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