National Payroll Week - change your career and join a growing industry

As it is National Payroll Week, we are celebrating and raising awareness of the growing profession…

What is payroll?

Payroll is a word many of us hear on a monthly basis. Every payday at the end of the month, we receive our hard-earned wages. They magically appear in our bank accounts or pay packets, but no one considers the professionals behind payday, making it all happen for you!

Yes, it isn’t just magic. It's down to the hard work of payroll professionals.

A growing industry…

As a growing industry, the payroll profession is becoming more and more popular across the UK, with many studying qualifications to develop new skills in the profession.
And why not? Now is the time to explore a new industry! A job role once managed by finance and HR professionals, it is now becoming a profession and career of its own.
According to the Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals (CIPP), there are currently more than 15,000 qualified payroll professionals in the UK.

Many of us are recognising payroll as a more stable and fulfilling career and are seeking to learn the skills needed to develop professionally. In fact, we’ve recorded a strong demand for flexible learning courses to help students develop their skills in payroll. Many of which are females aged between 25-44, as there are opportunities to become self-employed or work from home in the industry.

A vital role in any business

What many of us don’t realise is the impact payroll professionals actually have on our country's economy! Samantha Rutter, OSC's CEO, said:
“Payroll professionals play a vital role within the nation’s businesses, recording and processing employee salary and supporting cash flow. And the profession’s contribution to the collection of income tax and national insurance also needs recognising. This is set to contribute over £300bn* to the UK economy in the current tax year.”

“The rising interest in the profession is clear from the desire to train and develop skills in this area, with many of our students seeing payroll as an attractive, flexible and rewarding career choice.”

Study online

Interested? As a career, it is one that is likely to be in more demand than ever as the UK's economic woes deepen, with more and more businesses employing those professionals with payroll expertise and skills, making it one of the safest careers around.
Samantha continued:
“I believe the rise in popularity of online and cloud-based financial software has made it a lot easier for people to get their foot in the door with payroll, empowering those with an interest in the area to develop professionally."

“Whether it is to develop new skills, build on existing ones, or to start their own business, what our learners have in common is a passion for the discipline, possibilities and responsibilities that come with the profession.”

Join our student, Michelle

Our student Michelle is one of our many learners who was interested in the payroll profession. She studied, not just one but two of our distance learning courses and became a fully qualified payroll professional!
Dedicated and committed to her studies, she was actually awarded 'Student of the Year' but the Institute of Accountants and Bookkeepers (IAB).

She has since accomplished her goal of starting her own payroll and bookkeeping business. Michelle said:
“Following my cancer diagnosis, I began to think about what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. I soon decided on developing myself and my career."
"Once in remission, I started my course in payroll. I learned so much more than I ever did in school."
"The experience of joining the payroll profession has been great. Life’s too short not to follow your dreams.”
Read more about Michelle's inspirational story. 
If we've opened your eyes to a fantastic new career, take a look at our Sage 50 Payroll Complete qualification and our ICB Diploma in Payroll Management Level 3 to get you started in your payroll career!