Global payroll leaders are increasingly focusing on enhancing compliance, bolstering data security and privacy in response to the evolving nature of cyber threats. This attitude is essential as organisations strive for continuous improvement in their security measures and compliance strategies to address emerging threats and vulnerabilities.  

The findings, from a new research report – ‘Reaping the Benefits of Unified Pay Solutions’ - revealed that 84% of global payroll leaders are prioritising boosting their compliance, data security, and privacy in 2024, second only to the central function of ensuring accurate and timely payroll processing. 

With widespread reports of firms facing cyber-attacks this year, and as the World Economic Forum warns of a 50% increase in data breaches last year, the report suggests that more resources are being channelled into tackling this issue. While technological systems may be a primary focus for security concerns, the sensitive nature of the information that payroll teams handle makes global data protection and security of increasingly critical importance.

The research drew insights from a survey involving over 100 senior leaders in payroll, finance, and HR to understand the complexities of global payroll operations and highlight the significance of unified pay solutions in today’s dynamic work environment.

Matt Hillier, EVP Product at CloudPay explains why compliance is a growing focus for payroll teams: “While compliance has long been a key element of payroll, the evolving nature of data breaches and cyberattacks is clearly putting greater pressure on experts to safeguard their systems against new threats on a global basis. Payroll practitioners deal with some of the most sensitive data that businesses hold, and in the era of diverse regulations governing payrolls across different regions and jurisdictions, and growing cyber threats, objectives have expanded to include ensuring compliance and maintaining data security.”

“However, it’s important to add that payroll teams should also ensure that the growing focus on data security and the ensuing complex administrative burden does not distract them from their core tasks or lessen some of the strategic focus. This time drain can restrict a team’s ability to tackle more strategic tasks, which is where a unified pay solution can help.”

The full report can be downloaded here.