For years, multinational payroll was managed country by country, provider by provider, and spreadsheet by spreadsheet. That model worked when businesses expanded slowly. Global workforces do not expand slowly anymore.
In this episode of @thepayrollpodcast, Nick Day, CEO of JGA Recruitment, sits down with Sivanne Fishel, VP of Client Success for Global Enterprise Accounts at Papaya Global, to ask whether the traditional multi-provider payroll model has become one of the biggest risks in global payroll today. With over 12 years of experience supporting large organisations through workforce payments, compliance, and technology transformation, Sivanne brings a rare inside view of what full consolidation actually looks like at scale.
This is not just a conversation about switching platforms. It is a masterclass in why fragmentation quietly costs companies far more than they realise.
Nick and Sivanne unpack why payroll consolidation has shifted from a hard sell to client-driven demand, why the strongest case for going all-in on one platform is not efficiency but accountability, and why fragmented providers create hidden costs in compliance risk, worker experience, and retention that rarely show up on a balance sheet. They dig into Papaya's new agentic AI compliance tool, One by Papaya, how AI is genuinely saving payroll teams time and cost today, and why the human touch behind every payslip still cannot be automated away. They also look ahead to what a connected global workforce ecosystem could look like by 2030.
It is not just about which provider you use.
It is about who takes accountability when things go wrong.
And that changes everything about how payroll should be built.
Whether you are managing one provider or twenty-seven, this episode makes the case that global payroll's next chapter is about ownership, not just optimisation.
This episode is sponsored by Deel
Managing a global team is complex, Deel makes it simpler with payroll, HR, IT, and compliance all in one place. That's why over 35,000 businesses trust Deel to hire, pay, and manage their teams worldwide.
See how Deel works at www.deel.com/nickday
Guest and Host:
Connect with Sivanne Fishel: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sivanne-fishel-805993218/
Explore Papaya: https://www.papayaglobal.com
Read Papaya Global's research on the future of global payroll: https://www.papayaglobal.com/research/the-future-of-global-payroll
Connect with Nick Day: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickday/
Find your ideal payroll candidate with our job vacancy system: https://jgarecruitment.ck.page/919cf6b9ea
Sign up to the Payroll Podcast Newsletter: https://jgarecruitment.ck.page/23e7b153e7
Stay tuned for the next episode of The Payroll Podcast, brought to you by Nick Day, CEO at JGA Recruitment, landing soon!
Enjoyed this? Check out our sister podcast @thehrldpodcast for more great content!
Timestamps:
(00:00) Introduction: Is This the End of Country-by-Country Payroll?
(01:12) What Payroll Really Means Today (and How COVID Changed Everything)
(04:07) From Convincing Clients to Client-Driven Demand for Consolidation
(09:41) Inside One by Papaya: Agentic AI, BI Analytics and the Payments Merger
(17:57) Why Payroll Still Hasn't Earned Full Strategic Recognition
(24:25) Is the Multi-Provider Model Still Sustainable?
(28:40) Accountability Over Efficiency: The Real Case for Consolidation
(32:28) How Compliance Changes on a Consolidated Global Platform
(35:56) Where AI Is Delivering Real, Measurable Value in Payroll
(42:32) Prompting Tips and Fast-Forwarding to Payroll in 2030
(45:06) Building a Global Workforce From Scratch: Sivanne's Blueprint
(48:35) Payroll Vault: Career Advice, Predictions and Final Questions