Albert Williams, founder of Perkforce. Picture: John Allen Even before the pandemic prompted a large-scale shift to remote working, Albert Williams was looking into how employers might better manage employee rewards. In the past year, however, finding new ways to incentivise employees has been brought to the fore as many employers grapple with the ins and outs of managing a distributed workforce. Williams is the founder of Perkforce, a Cork start-up that is developing an application to automate and streamline the management of benefits and perks. Some of the most common benefits offered by employers in Ireland currently include pension cover, various forms of paid leave, work-from-home subsidies, health insurance, life assurance, employee assistance programmes, childcare and subsidised canteens, Williams said.