According to CloudPay, the payroll and payments solutions provider, traditional weekly and monthly pay cycles are approaching obsolescence as technology and the three A’s (AI, automation and APIs) transform the status quo in global payroll.
The organisation’s Payroll Efficiency Index (PEI) 2025 identified several statistics that indicate a shift away from traditional fixed pay cycles and towards more agile, continuous, and employee-centric models. This trend is largely being driven by both growing technological adoption and evolving demands from the workforce, who now seek greater autonomy over how and when they are paid and greater access to more flexible employment contracts.
Despite significant variations between regions, the study revealed that global calendar lengths (the number of days taken to complete a payroll cycle) rose by 12 per cent to 8.28 days year-on-year, reflecting a move towards greater flexibility and making more frequent or on-demand pay models increasingly viable.
According to CloudPay, the global increase in calendar length, combined with broader technological adoption, all indicate one clear trend coming to the fore; namely, that payroll is breaking free from rigid cycles, and towards more flexible, nuanced models where timing is driven by business events or needs, and employee preferences.
This shift is further evidenced by a 1.43 per cent increase in global supplemental runs year-on-year, the proportion of payroll runs taking place outside of normal cycles, highlighting the increased flexibility and nuance in global pay operations.
Carlos Morato, director of operations, AMER, comments: “The PEI data reveals fascinating global divergences in some of the core metrics we monitor, including issues per 1000 payslips, first-time approval ratings, and data input issues, amongst others. However, the data all points back to one core element: that global payroll is shaking free of its traditional constraints, and is embracing a more dynamic and agile future.
“Organisations have historically been tied to weekly or monthly pay cycles, but the rise of emerging technologies is supporting real change in the very fabric of the industry and profession, and supporting more flexibility, which will only benefit businesses and their employees.
“The move to more flexible pay cycles is being supported by the rise of the three A’s: AI, automation and APIs, which are offering far greater potential for organisations to adapt to external events, and the specific needs of the business, rather than being tied to rigid pay cycles. The growth of automation, in particular, is picking up a significant proportion of the arduous, time-consuming tasks that professionals had previously been focused on, and enabling employers to be more strategic and adaptive in their actions.
“Equally, changing employee demands and a growing need for access to more flexible employment models are also evolving the status quo, and could lead to traditional cycles becoming obsolete.
“Those firms and payroll teams that do adopt more modern, innovative pay models can use this agility to their advantage by incorporating it into their recruitment and retention efforts. These types of changes mean that the future is looking increasingly bright for global payroll, and the shift away from fixed pay cycles can offer a huge number of benefits to adopting organisations and their employees.”
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