Let's examine the impact from both sides of the coin—employee expectations and Gen Z's move into payroll careers.
Employee Perspective
If there’s one thing we need to keep in mind about Gen Z, it’s that they are a digitally native generation. From Tamagotchis to Blackberrys, this generation has grown up with technology, so naturally, it’s an integrated part of their personal and professional lives.
If we fast-forward to when Gen Z started entering into the workforce, one word springs to mind: COVID-19.
Yep, for this generation, remote and hybrid working aren’t just a ‘post-pandemic trend’, they’re the norm. 65% of Gen Z, stated that flexible working hours and remote work options were most important to them when searching for a new job, more so than competitive salary (53%) or company culture (41%).
1. Digital self-service and employee portals
So it’s safe to say Gen Z has certain expectations (and I’m not talking about free pizza on Fridays!). I mean flexibility, asynchronous communication, and self-service.
This desire for self-service extends to receiving and viewing their payslips too. That’s why it’s essential for companies to make the employee experience digital, quick, and efficient if they want to align with their Gen Z employees’ fast-paced lives.
With a slick employee portal, you can provide this!
Simple, well-designed, and user-friendly; a portal that meets these demands is a reflection to your Gen Z staff, of your company's commitment to improving employee experience.
2. Pay Transparency
Gen Z professionals are increasingly advocating for open discussions around compensation. From pay transparency within companies, to including salaries in job ads.
This topic has been trending on LinkedIn various times throughout 2024, with posts like this shared 1,000 times.
(If you didn’t get that, please put the salary in the job ad!)
Platforms like Glassdoor and Salary.com have empowered employees to access salary information, making pay disparities more visible.
However, Gen Z's demand for transparency isn’t about being nosey; it’s about addressing pay gaps based on gender, ethnicity, experience, or other factors. As organizations strive to align with Gen Z's values, implementing pay transparency practices is more crucial than ever. The payroll department and its data can help inform and advise the wider organization and decision-makers to review pay policies and build trust.
By ensuring equal pay for equal work, you can foster a work environment that attracts Gen Z talent and resonates with the principles that are important to them;
Fairness and inclusion, also in payroll careers.
3. EWA & Financial Wellness
Nicknamed the ‘TikTok generation,’ it’s understandable why timeliness is so important in Gen Z. Of course, this goes for their pay, too. Not only do over ⅓ of Gen Z respondents say they wouldn’t tolerate an error in pay, but they don’t want to wait for it either.
Most companies' payroll procedures require employees to wait weeks or, at most, a month to be paid for their work. This simply doesn’t suit the needs of this generation.
Now, I know you might be thinking:
Impatient! Instant gratification!
Well, that’s one way of looking at it. However, it has been shown that financial wellness programs and initiatives like EWA (Earned Wage Access) can be life-changing for Gen Z employees. This generation is already enduring a complex economy and higher inflation than previous ones, so it makes sense they would want to use what they've earned as they earn it.
So it’s not just impatience, Earned Wage Access (EWA) programs can mean the difference between taking out a high-interest loan to make it to the end of the month, or not.
These are the types of initiatives your organization should implement if it wants to make a positive impact on its Gen Z employees' mental and financial well-being.
Payroll Career Perspective
Now, let’s take a look at Gen Z working in Global Payroll, attracting Gen Z talent, and what this means for the industry. Now let's explore how Gen Z is making its mark on payroll careers and what it means for the future of the industry. As tech-savvy individuals with a desire for flexibility and career mobility, Gen Z is bringing new expectations and skills to the payroll profession, shaping it in ways we haven't seen before.
In one of our recent polls, we asked:
"Do you bring your laptop with you to attend to payroll on vacation?"
The results were telling: 63% responded "yes" while only 37% said "no". In a recent poll we conducted, we asked global payroll professionals, "Do you bring your laptop with you to attend to payroll on vacation?" The results were revealing: 63% responded "yes," while only 37% said "no."
This underscores a significant issue of key person dependencies in payroll roles. Gen Z values work-life balance and wants the ability to disconnect fully during vacations. The expectation to work even while on holiday can lead to burnout. Therefore, it's crucial for companies to invest in payroll software that enhances efficiency and reduces key person dependencies. By doing so, they can ensure their Gen Z payroll talent can truly disconnect and recharge, maintaining their overall job satisfaction and well-being.
4. Tech-natives
Working in (global) payroll means you work with lots of meaningful data, and tech, with AI being very actively tested. Of course, this is true for a lot of other professions. But tell me:
Where else do you get to touch data that impacts people’s financial well-being and data that directly impacts government politics?
And, you get to work in ANY industry (that you support and are purposely aligned with).
Hard to beat, right? Then, the appealing context of working in payroll means you do not need to choose a profession at the start of your career. Really? Really: payroll touches HR, Finance, Legal, IT, Labour Law, and Taxes…and the tech native skills will make a start easy. The rest you can all learn by doing and by observing and via training later on.
So, use your native tech skills to start a career and figure out which direction you want to go. Make this case in your job ads to attract Gen Z, and rest assured, you’ll attract them. There is no better start of any career than in payroll, but watch out; once you “roll into payroll, you might not roll out of payroll…” :)
5. Flexibility
Flexibility to work anywhere at any time. Sounds too good to be true? Hell no, this is now the norm in global payroll - partly “thanks to the pandemic”.
Follow the talent, not the location; that is the new hiring strategy. Global payroll is uniquely positioned to focus on deliverables and not when the effort is made to get those deliverables. So work flexibly and from anywhere, but be there when you need to.
With very flexible global payroll management platforms, you can tailor the work experience to your needs. Don’t depend on someone else to make changes; do it yourself; go and find out. Reading a manual? No way, just start and figure it out. UX and UI are the manual.
6. Career Mobility
You might have heard the term ‘job-hopping’ regarding Gen Z employees.
Whilst I’m not personally a fan of that word, career mobility is important to Gen Z, both vertically and horizontally and between organizations. They are ambitious, want goals to aim towards, and don’t like to be stuck in one role for 20 years like their parents may have done. And can you blame them?
When we consider the job market they entered, stability is not a given. So, it makes sense why Gen Z employees would want to learn transferable skills, which would give them the opportunity to adapt to industry changes.
Studies show that Gen Z employees could change jobs up to 10 times between the ages of 18 and 34, and not just jobs, but careers up to 3 times in their life.
What does this mean for the payroll industry?
It calls for organisations to have dynamic, skill-driven payroll departments that emphasise continuous learning, career development, and job roles.
Thankfully, the great thing about a career in payroll is that you don't have to choose!
You get to engage with HR, guiding staff through pivotal life moments that affect their pay. In terms of finance, you provide crucial labour cost data and insights for strategic planning, which is vital to any business. Not only that, but you also touch legal, tax, compliance, and data protection and can help craft policies that positively impact the employee experiences.
And let’s not forget Gen Z’s bread and butter - technology!
Working in global payroll in 2024 means using cutting-edge tools (like Payzaar), testing integrations, deploying AI initiatives, and shaping and digitising your organisation's future payroll operations!
So, what next?
There you have it—Gen Z is transforming global payroll with their love for tech, demand for transparency, and need for flexibility.
From intuitive employee portals, to financial wellness programs to career mobility, these shifts are crucial for payroll teams to keep up with. Embrace these changes, and you'll not only attract top Gen Z talent but also create a more dynamic and efficient payroll team.
Ready to (pay)roll into the future with Gen Z? Let's do this!
