As the payroll sector celebrates National Payroll Week, leading global employee pay provider, CloudPay, has urged business leaders to consider the significant role they can – and should – play in steering the future of work for individuals, the economy and society at large.

During a time when the cost-of-living crisis is reigning rife while technological advancements accelerate at a rapid pace, CloudPay has highlighted that those payroll teams embracing a digitalised approach will be key in helping businesses and employees navigate through turbulent and uncertain times and emerge fitter for the future.

Through utilising the latest Payroll tech innovation tools such as Earned Wage Access or Pay on-Demand and Pay-to-Card instant payments, businesses can give their employees a consumer-grade experience that aligns with the on-demand society in which we now live. Having access to earned wages when needed, rather than waiting for payday, could also prevent some people from turning to high-interest loans and credit cards.

But as the global pay expert explains, too few business leaders grasp how payroll and payments technology can provide significant cost-efficiencies as well as support employees – an opportunity that payroll teams should take advantage of.

CloudPay CEO, Paul Bartlett, comments:

“The rise of inflation and ongoing cost-of-living crisis is a significant concern for staff and employers alike. And with skills shortages reaching critical levels, there’s a real need for firms to consider what else they can do to attract, retain and support their staff. Post-Covid, payroll and payments leaders need to ensure they align with and adapt to the changing workplace and workforce dynamics.

“As purse strings tighten, an individual’s financial wellbeing will be impacted by unexpected events and costs. The growing cost of living is only going to continue to have an adverse impact on staff, and firms need to look at innovative ways to support and ultimately retain staff.

“With a potential recession also in the pipeline, large pay rises are not likely to be feasible. However, businesses and payroll teams can support their staff in other ways.  One option involves the adoption of new technology in payroll processing and payments, to enable employees to have greater control over how and when they get paid. Earned Wage Access or Pay On-Demand solutions, combined with Pay-to-Card instant payments, allow staff to access their earned wages 24/7, when they need them, via a mobile app. This puts control in the hands of the individual, so they can better manage their personal cashflow by drawing down a proportion of their earned salary any time of the month. We’re seeing employees use this facility to withdraw relatively small amounts throughout the pay cycle – almost as a ‘digital ATM’.

“A rapidly growing number of payroll leaders are recognising the valuable role that technology and process developments can play in tough times, and that such innovations are actually what the future of payroll looks like. But there’s still a way to go to bring the more traditional parts of our industry to adopt these opportunities.

“National Payroll Week is the perfect time for experts in the field to not only re-evaluate but also re-educate the rest of the business on the powerful role that payroll plays in today’s economy. While the future is certainly unpredictable, those businesses that utilise the payroll tech that’s out there will be sure to put themselves and their employees in a more advantageous position.”