Thirty-nine percent of America’s workers are uncomfortable with the use of AI to calculate their pay, while an even larger 53% would be uncomfortable with AI tools answering their payroll questions instead of a human, according to the 2024 “Getting Paid In America” survey, conducted by PayrollOrg (PAYO).
“Payroll is more than just a technical process. It’s deeply tied to the livelihoods and financial well-being of employees,” said Dan Maddux, executive director at PAYO. “This survey shows that many workers still prefer the assurance of working with payroll professionals when it comes to complex payroll matters, despite the benefits AI can provide.”
While the survey results indicate that maintaining human oversight and support will be essential to ensuring employee trust, companies are finding new ways to balance the speed and efficiency of technology with the personalized service employees expect. More transparency and educating of employees on how AI is being incorporated into their company’s payroll process may be important.
“Organizations have a lot of work to do to ensure employees understand how and why AI is being used, especially when it comes to something as important as payroll,” said Teresa Smith, director, HCM strategic advisory group at UKG. “AI can alert employees and managers about exceptions and anomalies that could negatively impact their pay, such as missed punches. It can also surface opportunities to earn more through pay differentials that could become available by learning new skills or earning a special certification. Generative AI-powered payroll reporting will also simplify searching troves of data for key insights to inform business strategy. This is all great news for both employees, payroll professionals, and organizations.”
The annual survey asked respondents how comfortable you are with the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to calculate your pay. Of the 35,884 individuals who responded to this question, 13,939 respondents, or 39 percent, said they would be somewhat or very uncomfortable with the use of AI to calculate your pay. The survey also asked respondents how comfortable you are with AI tools answering your payroll questions instead of a person, and 18,879 respondents, or 53 percent, said they would be somewhat or very uncomfortable with AI tools answering your payroll questions.
The “Getting Paid In America” survey was held in conjunction with PayrollOrg’s annual public awareness campaign National Payroll Week, September 2 – 6, and gathered insights from over 38,600 respondents. For complete survey results, visit www.nationalpayrollweek.com.
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