Paychex CEO announces retirement, will remain as board member

Paychex CEO and board chair Martin Mucci has announced his retirement from the chief executive role, though he will retain his role on the board. The retirement will be effective as of Oct. 14, 2022. Current president and chief operating officer John Gibson will then assume the role of president and CEO.

Mucci has been CEO since 2010 and board chair since 2021. He first joined the company in 2002 as the senior vice president of operations. Gibson, the incoming CEO, joined Paychex in 2013 as senior vice president of service and became COO in 2021.

“The opportunity to lead Paychex as CEO has been the highlight of my career,” said Mucci in a statement. “I want to extend my sincere thanks to our employees and the leadership team whose commitment and hard work have helped us achieve significant financial results, support over 730,000 clients, and provide a great environment for our employees to grow their careers. I’m confident this is the right time to make this transition. Paychex recently completed its most successful fiscal year to date, with both the sales and service organizations under the leadership of John Gibson. He is the right leader to drive Paychex into our next phase of growth.”

Gibson plans to expand the use of technology at Paychex and credited Mucci.

“I want to extend my sincere thanks to Marty and our board of directors for this opportunity,” he said in a statement. “Because of the passion and commitment of our leadership team and employees, the Paychex of today is a technology and digitally enabled HR industry leader, well-positioned for the future. Our mission will continue to be to lead our industry by remaining true to Paychex’s core purpose: to help businesses succeed. I’m focused on doing this by expanding the important role technology plays in our business, leading our industry in customer experience, leveraging the vast amount of data available to Paychex to bring insights to our customers and the world on what matters most to businesses and entrepreneurs’ success, and by continuing to elevate our role as an essential partner for every business we serve. I’m confident in the future of Paychex and look forward to the opportunity ahead.”