Why Payroll Talent Is in Short Supply

Payroll is a specialist function that requires technical knowledge, compliance expertise, and attention to detail. In the UK, demand for payroll professionals has risen sharply — driven by regulatory changes, hybrid working models, and an increasing reliance on accurate real-time reporting. The result is a nationwide shortage of qualified payroll talent, making recruitment more competitive than ever.

Key Strategies for Hiring Payroll Specialists

1. Proactive Sourcing via Niche Networks

Instead of relying solely on mainstream job boards, recruiters need to:

• Tap into specialist payroll communities and LinkedIn groups.
• Leverage industry-specific recruitment agencies like JGA Recruitment.
• Use referrals from existing payroll professionals.

2. Upskill Internal Teams

Where external hires are scarce, employers can:

• Train finance or HR team members in payroll.
• Offer formal payroll qualifications (CIPP, AAT).
• Build career pathways to retain and grow payroll talent in-house.

3. Offer Flexibility and Competitive Packages

In a candidate-driven market, companies that stand out offer:

• Remote or hybrid working options.
• Flexible contracts or project-based roles.
• Competitive salaries aligned with rising demand.
• Career development opportunities that attract long-term commitment.

4. Partner With a Specialist Recruiter

Recruitment agencies focused solely on payroll (like JGA Recruitment) bring:

• Access to wider payroll talent pools.
• Market benchmarking for salaries and benefits.
• Faster hiring through pre-vetted candidates.

FAQ

Why are payroll specialists hard to recruit in the UK?

Because of high demand, regulatory complexity, and too few professionals entering the field compared to market needs.

What’s the most effective way to find payroll talent?

Using payroll-specific recruiters and networks instead of relying only on generic job boards.

Can payroll be outsourced instead of hiring in-house?

Yes, but many organisations still need in-house payroll professionals to manage compliance and employee confidence.

How long does it take to hire a payroll specialist?

In shortage conditions, recruitment can take several months – specialist recruiters help shorten this timeline significantly.

Next Steps

If you’re struggling to recruit payroll talent, don’t rely on generic approaches. By combining proactive sourcing, internal upskilling, and specialist recruitment support, you can secure the right payroll professionals even in a competitive market.

Talk to us to access the UK’s largest network of payroll specialists

Gen Z (those born roughly between 1997 – 2012) have clear expectations of what they’re looking for when applying for jobs. If an employer’s values, policies and day‑to‑day culture don’t ring true, they’ll clock it, and leave.

Want them to stay, thrive and spark fresh ideas? Start by getting these fundamentals right.

Understanding Gen Z

Gen Z are driven by meaning; they prefer jobs that align with what they’re passionate about. Some of these can be personal factors, but Gen Z are typically passionate about social issues, the environment, mental health and travelling.

As well as this, Gen Z also understands technology like the back of their hand because they grew up with it. They’re able to adapt to the newest advancements and work well in an environment that utilises the latest technology (this doesn’t mean they won’t require proper onboarding, though). They’re great to have on your team, but it’s vital you can impress them and keep them on board.

Gen Z respect straight talking. They would rather hear an honest “I don’t know” from a manager than a glossy corporate line. Transparency about pay, promotion criteria and company performance builds trust – the foundation on which long‑term loyalty rests.

Valuing Mental Health

A healthy work‑life balance is more than a buzz‑phrase for this generation; it is a non‑negotiable. Gen Z are often passionate about progressing in their career, but they also want to enjoy their personal life to the fullest. This involves having time for self-care, making memories and being able to see their friends and family.

Many UK firms now offer three or four “wellbeing days” each year, allowing staff to step back when they need to reset without burning through holiday allowance.

Additionally, open and honest communication is a must. Feeling comfortable to speak to your managers about something you might be struggling with is important, whether that’s work or personal matters. Over time, this lack of communication can cause them to bottle things up and resent their workplace. This can lead to quiet quitting, demotivation, or your employees looking elsewhere. The key is to be approachable.

Flexible work

Another key way to support wellbeing is by offering flexible work to employees. If someone has a doctor’s appointment or needs to sort out an issue with their car, varied start times can be a huge help. Someone may take a liking to an 8-4 if they have commitments in the evening, whereas someone else can prefer a 10-6 if they have a busy morning taken up by getting the children ready for school.

As well as varied work times, working from home has become increasingly popular since the pandemic due to its range of useful benefits. If someone has to travel far to get to the office, working from home can eliminate travel times and the costs associated.

Fully remote work can work well, but a few days in the office often improves communication, learning and team cohesion. It’s the best of both worlds: less commuting and that much-needed face-to-face.  And this is a very popular choice among Gen Z. In fact, according to this Gallup survey, 71% of Zoomers prefer a hybrid work model, compared to 23% remote, and 6% in office.

A more recent trend among Gen Z is judging performance by outcomes rather than hours. Meaning 4 day work weeks could become more popular. Why be stuck at a desk more hours than you need to?

Opportunity to Grow

Gen Z likes to know they can progress within their job and climb the career ladder. Employers who value their development by offering feedback and training courses are a big green flag to them. If there’s a clear path for progression within the company, they’re likely to stick around longer. Regular career check‑ins every quarter rather than one bloated annual review – keeps them feeling heard and appreciated.

In addition to this: the modern working world is turbulent. Mass redundancies can leave people blindsided and panicking to cover next month’s rent in roles they thought were secure. And the result of this is that people want more stability and honesty. Be open about how the company is doing, whether there’s a chance to progress, and any upcoming changes – keeping people in the loop is crucial. When colleagues are being let go, everyone else feels on edge; transparency is paramount to retention. If people worry they’re next, they’ll start planning their move.

What To Avoid

Here are things Gen Z tends to avoid.

• Poor communication – Going quiet on pay, performance, or company health is the fastest way to lose trust.
• Schedules that lack flexibility – Blanket “9–5 in the office” rules feel arbitrary. Since 6 April 2024, employees in Great Britain have a day-one right to request flexible working, and employers should handle requests fairly and quickly.
• Stereotypes –Don’t generalise: not everyone wants fully remote, will job-hop, hates calls, or is “too young to lead.” In the UK, avoid age-coded language in ads, such as a young/energetic team; assess the real skills.
• Micromanagement – There is nothing worse than someone watching your every move at work. This is a particularly bad trait in the eyes of Gen Z employees. The UK ICO says any worker monitoring must be necessary, proportionate and transparent – get this wrong and you risk complaints as well as morale. Not to mention it’s usually a complete waste of management’s time.
• No clear path for progression – Vague career progression and unspoken pay bands push ambitious people out.
• Ghosting candidates – Slow, silent processes damage your employer brand. Even a quick “no” beats radio silence – and applicants will remember.

Final Thoughts

Retaining Gen Z isn’t about beanbags or free pizza. Get those fundamentals right and your youngest colleagues will do far more than stay – they will power the next wave of your business.

Are you looking for your next payroll or HR talent? JGA Recruitment is the UK specialist in Payroll & HR hiring: interim, contract and permanent.

Let’s talk: info@jgarecruitment.com – 01727 800 377.

Holly Dodd is a freelance writer fueled by books and big ideas, crafting content that sparks conversations on under-discussed topics. Get in touch: holly.dodd@thewritersdiary.co.uk

Discover the Future of Payroll – Powered by AI

Download our FREE eBook: The Future of Payroll: How AI is Revolutionising the Industry

AI is reshaping payroll faster than you think.

Payroll is no longer just about payslips and compliance. It’s becoming a strategic powerhouse – fuelled by artificial intelligence.

This ground-breaking eBook reveals how leading organisations are already using AI to automate processes, enhance compliance, deliver real-time insights, and elevate the employee experience. If you work in payroll, this isn’t just your future – it’s your present.

What’s inside?

This expert-led guide unpacks:

• Real-world AI case studies across retail, finance, healthcare & more
• Game-changing tools like predictive analytics, chatbots & generative AI
• How AI is reducing processing time, boosting accuracy & cutting costs
• The skills payroll professionals need to stay relevant – and lead
• Practical strategies to integrate AI into your payroll ecosystem
• How to manage compliance, ethics, and risk in an AI-led world
• Why payroll leaders must act now to stay ahead

Written by Nick Day, one of the best known Global Payroll Thought Leaders and CEO of JGA Recruitment Group, this is your playbook for payroll’s next evolution.

This isn’t just an eBook. It’s your edge.

Whether you’re a payroll manager, HR leader, or CFO, the insights inside will help you:

💡 Make smarter, faster payroll decisions
📊 Unlock cost-saving and strategic value
🧠 Equip your team with future-ready skills
🛠 Implement AI solutions with confidence
👥 Retain top talent through frictionless pay experiences

Don’t fall behind. While others wait, innovators are already building smarter, leaner, AI-powered payroll functions.

Ready to lead the change?

• Download the free eBook now and future-proof your payroll function.
• Share it with your team – this is essential reading.
• Speak with JGA Recruitment to hire AI-ready payroll talent today.

🔍 “AI is about augmenting work – not just automating it.” – Nick Day

Join the payroll professionals shaping tomorrow – today.

The world of work is changing fast. Hybrid teams. Rapid digitalisation. New employee expectations. It’s a lot to lead through. But while the workplace has transformed, many leadership models haven’t kept up. The result is a growing gap between what organisations need from their leaders and what they’re getting.

At JGA Recruitment Group, we hear this from clients every week. Senior teams that look great on paper but struggle to align. New hires who feel lost in their first 90 days. Leadership development programmes that tick boxes but fail to drive real behavioural change. It’s why we launched JGA Coaching and Consulting. Our aim is to help businesses not just hire great people, but turn them into confident, future-ready leaders.

We’re seeing it everywhere. Technically capable people stepping into senior roles without the mindset or support to lead through change. The gap isn’t just skills. It’s clarity, cohesion and confidence. And if you don’t address it, it spreads fast — disengaged teams, decision paralysis, and high performers burning out or leaving.

Leadership in 2025 demands more. Emotional intelligence. Digital fluency. The ability to communicate across platforms, time zones and generations. Leaders need to be adaptable, aligned, and aware of the wider business context. That’s the shift we’re making with our clients through tools, coaching, and diagnostics built for this reality.

Imagine a senior team that knows exactly how to work together. New managers who step into the role with confidence and a clear understanding of how to lead. A team that’s not scrambling to plug gaps, but proactively shaping performance, engagement and retention.

With Meta Team, we help leadership teams understand their blind spots and dynamics, the stuff that’s not on the org chart but affects every decision. With Transition Coaching, we support new hires in those critical first three months, so they embed faster and lead stronger. Our expert-led programmes from Coaching Focus equip managers with the behaviours that actually stick, while our partnership with Inference Group brings AI-enabled payroll tools that empower better, faster decisions.

And this isn’t about HR & Payroll being on the sidelines. It’s about them leading the way, enabling people managers with insights, aligning teams around strategy, and making sure performance doesn’t just happen by accident.

The businesses that thrive in the next five years will be the ones who invest in their people after the point of hire. That’s where culture is shaped. That’s where capability is built. That’s where real performance starts.

If your leadership team is navigating complexity, change or growth, we’d love to help. 

Explore the services behind high-performing teams with JGA Coaching and Consulting. Or reach out today for a conversation.

Check out what JGA Coaching & Consulting can do here

Productivity isn’t just about how long we sit at our desks – it’s about what we actually get done while we’re there.

In recent years, there’s been a noticeable shift in how we view working hours. From the rise of the 4-day workweek to flexible start and finish times, more organisations are starting to question the age-old belief that more hours = more output.

But does cutting back on time at work really boost productivity?

The Case for Fewer Hours

Research says yes – at least in many cases. A UK pilot of the 4-day workweek saw 92% of companies deciding to continue the model. Why? Because people were just as productive in less time. In fact, many were more focused, more energised, and more satisfied with their jobs.

It makes sense. When people know they have less time to complete their tasks, they tend to work smarter. Meetings become more focused. Procrastination dips. And the ever-present ‘I’ll do it later’ mindset starts to disappear.

What Productivity Really Looks Like

We often confuse busyness with productivity. But clocking long hours doesn’t mean we’re adding more value. Burnout, stress, and disengagement are productivity killers – and they’re rampant in environments where long hours are the norm.

Studies have shown that most employees are only truly productive for around 3 to 4 hours per day. So stretching that across an 8-hour workday (or longer) may not be the best strategy for getting things done.

The Conditions Matter

That said, shorter hours only work when the structure and culture support it. Without clarity, accountability, and focus, shaving off hours can lead to chaos.

For reduced-hour models to work, teams need:

• Clear goals and expectations.
• Systems to support async work and fewer meetings.
• A culture that values results over presenteeism.

Without these, productivity can suffer – even with fewer hours.

So… Does Less Time Equal More Output?

It can. But only when businesses rethink how work is done, not just how long it lasts.

The real opportunity lies in designing work with intention – cutting out the noise and focusing on what truly drives results.

Whether it’s trialling a 4-day week, trimming meeting overload, or letting employees choose when and where they work best, one thing is clear: more time doesn’t always mean more output. In many cases, it means more burnout, more distractions, and less of what really matters.

JGA Recruitment Group: Connecting Talent. Driving Success.

Looking for the next step in your career? Or looking for the best Payroll & HR talent to join your organisation? Contact our team on:

Telephone: 01727800377

Email: aaron@jgarecruitment.com

Website: https://jgarecruitment.com