7 HR trends that will shape your priorities in 2025

The start of a new year brings the inevitable flood of predictions about what lies ahead. While scanning the horizon can feel overwhelming amid day-to-day demands, understanding key HR trends helps People teams focus their limited resources where they’ll have the most impact.

Predictions, by their nature, are unpredictable. But as I reflect on 2024 and consider what’s ahead, several themes emerge that will likely shape our priorities and programs in the coming year. These aren’t revolutionary changes but rather evolutionary shifts that build on developing patterns.

The HR trends I’m watching most closely center on how we structure work, support our people, deliver experiences, and harness technology. While every organization’s needs differ, these areas deserve careful attention as we plan for the year ahead.

HR trend #1: Accepting a diversity of work models as the norm

Whenever another large company issues a return-to-office (RTO) mandate, it hits the headlines and spurs more debate about the best approach. I’m hoping we all settle into the reality that we have always had a diversity of work models — the distribution has just shifted for many of us.

Structured hybrid models, where employees follow set office schedules, now dominate at 43% of organizations — more than double the rate from early 2023 (Q4 Flex Index Report).

What that tells me is that companies continue to evolve and determine what works best for them. It’s always been good practice to have the talent strategy and employee value proposition align with the mission and business goals. At times, it seems we’ve lost perspective on this reality and reverted to a more binary view of the world — RTO vs. remote.

I hope that 2025 is the year we accept and remember that a diversity of work models is the norm. We need to get on with whatever the right approach is for our business and stop being distracted by headline-grabbing RTO mandates. 

Let’s work from our own data and perhaps do our own A/B testing, as this HBR article suggests. What works for one company won’t necessarily be best for another. It’s the Goldilocks principle of finding what is “just right” for you. 

Back to top

HR trend #2: Embracing a wider definition of well-being

It’s debatable when well-being and wellness in the workplace first became a mainstream concept and practice. Was it the early shoots of occupational health many decades ago? Or the heightened attention from the ’90s onwards as healthcare costs spiraled, particularly in the U.S.? 

Or perhaps around the new millennium, as societal shifts, new technologies and other factors expanded our thinking. Whenever it was, well-being is now a central component of our ability to attract and retain talent and keep them engaged and productive.

For a while now, our definition has expanded beyond physical to social, emotional and career well-being. I think we’ll continue to widen the aperture of what constitutes holistic well-being in the workplace, such as financial well-being, and respond to areas that are becoming more important as wider trends march on.

Social well-being 

Social well-being has taken a different slant as the diversity of work models expands and evolves. Factors like loneliness are on the rise and at risk of becoming a more significant issue if we don’t tackle them. 

We need to keep our attention on: 

• Building and maintaining meaningful relationships and a sense of belonging
• Encouraging collaboration, team bonding and community engagement
• Reducing loneliness and fostering a strong culture of inclusion

Emotional well-being 

The focus on emotional well-being will continue to rise, given the pressures and shifts of the modern workplace. We will need to keep traveling down many of the same tracks.

We need to find creative and cost-effective ways to make an impact on: 

• Developing resilience, self-awareness and stress-management skills
• Supporting mental health conditions and being mindful of rising stress and  burnout
• Promoting mindfulness, work-life management, gratitude and psychological safety

Career well-being

We know that career growth and development are major drivers of retention and essential for business performance. That’s why I think we’ll pay increasing attention to career well-being. 

Our intuition, experience and data tell us there is a link between professional growth, feeling valued and seeing career progress — all of which shape how we feel. Professional development impacts our sense of worth, our sense of self and, therefore, our well-being. 

We need greater investment in helping our people in areas such as: 

• Finding fulfillment and purpose in their work
• Having opportunities for growth, recognition and skills development
• Ensuring a healthy work-life sustainability and equitable workload distribution
• Engaging in continuous learning and personal growth

Terms like work-life balance, work-life harmony and work-life integration have always seemed like misnomers to me. The reality is that we need to find sustainable options for our people so we can all juggle work and life. If it’s sustainable, then we will find balance and harmony.

Back to top

HR trend #3: Continuation of the DEX-pansion 

The integration of technology in every area of our lives continues at an unrelenting pace. With this comes the expansion of digital workplace experiences. I wrote recently about the need to bring a human-centric approach to the great DEX-pansion. 

Yet despite all our technology, we struggle to deliver on our digital employee experience. The weaknesses include: 

Lack of awareness and communication

SHRM reported that 58% of employees were unaware of the full extent of benefits offered to them, and 57% felt their HR communications weren’t clear. 

Relevance and personalization

Programs are often perceived as generic and not tailored to individual needs. Employees are more likely to value something that is personalized to them.

Complexity and overload

Employees report feeling overwhelmed by the volume of information they are exposed to, and managers even more so. This HBR article highlights the need to reduce information overload, which sucks hours a week from our already busy schedules. Communication is too often duplicative, irrelevant, effort-intensive and inconsistent. We need to upgrade how we communicate.

Accessibility issues

Around 70-80% of the world’s jobs are deskless, yet we often underserve these workers and underestimate how disconnected they feel. More than half of deskless workers say they are burned out, and 43% are actively or passively looking for a new job.

Even when people have access to tools at work, Simpplr research shows that 41% of employees struggle to navigate the company’s intranet and cite frustrations in finding information. As we work toward expanding our DEX capabilities, we must ensure that we’re not just adding more tools but also creating a truly unified and digital employee experience.

Back to top

HR trend #4: Practical applications of AI over the hype 

The hype around AI has been huge. Don’t get me wrong — I’m a big believer in the potential of AI. In the years before AI went mainstream — arguably in 2023 when generative AI tools like ChatGPT launched — many people forecasted that robots would come for our jobs and the three-day workweek would soon be a reality. 

I’m with the more moderate voices like the World Economic Forum. According to its Future of Jobs Report 2020, an estimated 85 million jobs will be displaced, while 97 million new jobs will be created by 2025. As with any major innovation, there will be disruption and change, but there will also be opportunity and upside. We’ll know soon how accurate their forecast was! 

The reality is that we can never perfectly predict the future, but we can look to the past for lessons. We can be certain this oncoming technology wave will bring new opportunities, change old practices, and require the need for new skills. We can be certain the march of progress will continue and pick up pace as it does. Historical cycles of innovation have shown all of this to be true.

Whether we consider AI a friend or foe is influenced by how much we’ve used it. According to BCG, 49% of regular AI users believe their job may disappear in the next 10 years, compared to only 24% of employees who don’t use it.

Somewhat paradoxically, this same research reveals that employees have increased confidence in AI tools over the past year as they work through their concerns and use them. In fact, half of employees report saving at least five hours a week by using GenAI at work.

This rings true to our past experiences with change. The anticipation is often worse than the reality. There’s no doubt that practical applications of AI will increase at a healthy pace. Many of us have started using generative AI to kick-start our writing (yes, I did!), take notes at our meetings, and more.

3 practical steps to make the most of AI

As we progress through 2025, we should focus on practical steps to make the most of AI:

1. Scrutinize our software applications for how they leverage AI today and ask our vendors whether innovation is embedded in their roadmap.
2. Pay attention to ethical and responsible practices when utilizing all forms of AI. In software selection conversations, I now ask whether vendors have signed up with the Responsible AI Institute or similar organizations. 
3. Encourage employees to experiment responsibly, learn and grow, as well as embrace the changes AI will bring. We need to be less worried about AI taking over our jobs and more concerned about being replaced by someone with better AI skills. 

Back to top

HR trend #5: Reformulation of DEI

There’s been a flurry of headlines as big-name companies are reassessing their diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) strategies. Some are scaling back initiatives due to political and legal pressures. Companies like Meta, Amazon, McDonald’s, Walmart and Ford have all announced changes to their DEI efforts. On this first day of his administration, President Trump signed executive orders to cut DEI programs within the federal government.

As of August 2024, DEI job postings were down more than 60% from their peak in February 2022 (Glassdoor).

In the U.S., legal risks and changing political climates are often cited as contributing factors, particularly following the 2023 Supreme Court decision affecting affirmative action policies. But the full story is more nuanced. In my view (and hope), this is not the end of DEI but rather a period of reformulation. 

When you look beyond the headlines, there are reasons to be encouraged. Many of the same companies announcing changes in their past approaches to DEI are simultaneously reimagining and sustaining their investments in creating truly inclusive and equitable workplaces. Others — like Microsoft, GM, Salesforce, Apple and Costco — are standing their ground and recommitting to DEI. 

In 2025, 765 out of 1,449 companies achieved a perfect Corporate Equality Index score — a significant increase from the previous year (Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index). 

More U.S. companies are offering strong benefits and protections to LGBTQ+ employees. This indicates a sustained commitment to DEI principles, even if companies are rebranding their initiatives under different names. 

 Data should drive DEI decisions

We have to keep looking at the data to inform where we have issues, and where our biggest gaps are. For example, women CEOs still face significant disparities. Their average tenure is five years, compared to eight years for men, according to the Global CEO Turnover Index from executive search firm Russell Reynolds. 

The same firm reports that women made up for just 17% of global CEOs appointed in the third quarter of 2024. At the current pace, it will take 81 years to achieve gender parity among CEOs. Whatever we call our DEI efforts, we have plenty of room to evolve and improve. 

Belonging isn’t a buzzword

The terms “inclusion” and “belonging” are being emphasized more frequently in discussions about workplace DEI. While they aren’t outright replacing DEI, this evolution of terminology reflects a shifting focus in organizational strategies. We know a sense of belonging enhances employee engagement, productivity and retention. 

A McKinsey 2022 report found that workplaces emphasizing belonging saw 50% lower turnover rates and higher performance outcomes. 

That said, there are valid concerns that focusing on belonging could dilute efforts to address systemic inequalities unless paired with concrete equity initiatives. There’s a risk that this shift might prioritize comfort over tackling uncomfortable but necessary conversations about structural barriers. 

Commitment to progress

Personally, I’m all for meaningful inclusion over superficial diversity efforts. We should focus on changes that impact employees’ daily experiences rather than stand-alone efforts that may have gotten bogged down. But to move forward, we must keep data front and center, be honest about the gaps we need to close, and stay committed to progress, regardless of what we call our initiatives. 

Then way we focus on solving these challenges — and the language we use to describe them — will continue to evolve.  I remain hopeful that inclusion and belonging are not replacing DEI but expanding its framework. This evolution acknowledges the complexity of the societal and workplace issues we’re trying to solve. The path forward isn’t easy, but we have to keep pushing,  working hard, and striving for meaningful change. 

Back to top

HR trend #6: Unlocking the “magic” of managers 

We can all recall times in our careers when we’ve worked for great managers — the ones who made a positive impact. And, sadly, we can probably all remember the opposite. 

These experiences remind us how important managers are in shaping our well-being at the workplace and influencing how well we perform and how long we stay with the company.  Yet, managers report feeling more burned out than ever — more than 50% according to this Microsoft study — and typically more than the general population. 

Flexible work arrangements have made it more challenging to manage their people.  Many report feeling underprepared and undersupported to lead in today’s environment. Against a backdrop of record-low engagement and the Great Detachment — the latest Great [fill-in-the-blank] trend — it’s important to remember how central managers are to the employee experience. 

70% of the variance in a team’s engagement is linked to management (Gallup). So step up your support of managers, and good things will follow.  

The 2024 Alight International Workforce and Wellbeing Mindset Study revealed striking insights into the state of management. While almost two-thirds (64%) of managers believe they’re effective leaders, just over half (56%) actually enjoy their management responsibilities. 

This raises important questions: How do we make management a role that feels rewarding? And how do we set up managers to thrive in what is, undeniably, a difficult role to get right? Managers need the right training, the right support, and the right tools to be successful. Without these, they’re being asked to lead in an environment that’s growing more complex by the day, with little in the way of resources to help them navigate it.

Of course, there’s no one-size-fits-all solution — if there were, we would have solved it by now. However, some of the other HR trends we’ve discussed can be brought to bear here. From applying AI to reduce repetitive tasks to embracing a broader definition of well-being to investing in employee experience technologies — there are practical ways to give managers the support they need. We can also support managers and employees more effectively with analytics that give us real insights into the employee experience and how we can make a difference.

Back to top

HR trend #7: Breakthroughs in people analytics

In 2017, as tech giants Google, Facebook, Apple, Microsoft and Amazon were on the rise, The Economist published an article declaring that the world’s most valuable resource was no longer oil, but data. The phrase “data is the new oil” was first coined by British mathematician Clive Humby back in 2006. At the time, he meant that data, like oil, isn’t useful in its raw state. It needs to be refined and processed to be of real value. 

All these years later, we’re still waiting for “big data” to be turned into something of real value in the workplace. Most days, it feels like we’re drowning in data and gasping for insights. We’ve made strides, for sure, and I’m optimistic that 2025 will be the year we make bigger breakthroughs in people analytics. Why? AI, of course. 

We’re learning new terms and getting our heads around new concepts. There’s automated machine learning to build models faster, improved predictive analytics to uncover complex data patterns, real-time (or near real-time) data analysis, natural language processing for text analysis, and tools that can handle diverse data types across multiple platforms. 

These technological advances have the potential to transform how we work with data and, most importantly, how we understand our employees.

I’m hopeful these strides will allow us to better understand employees’ needs faster than ever before and to personalize the support we give them. Real-time sentiment data, where the technology itself — not just the humans interpreting it — can learn what will be most helpful and seamlessly serve that up. 

People analytics will enable smarter, more responsive decision-making that improves not just outcomes but also the employee experience — another practical application of AI beyond the hype. This could be the year we realize the potential of people analytics.

Back to top

Looking forward to what’s next

As Yogi Berra said, “It’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future,” but one thing we can be certain of is that history is a great teacher. The Greek philosopher Heraclitus (535-475 BCE) is credited with the idea that the only constant in life is change — he was right all that time ago! 

So, let’s embrace what’s next, stay flexible, keep evolving, and try new things. Then, we can step into the  futures of our own making.

Back to top

How Simpplr can support your HR priorities in 2025

Simpplr’s AI-powered employee experience platform empowers HR leaders to enhance engagement, support productivity, and foster an inclusive culture. The intuitive platform provides seamless communication, simplified content management, and personalized access to resources.

Simpplr centralizes vital HR tools and information like benefits, onboarding and professional development to help drive the ROI of your employee experience investments through adoption and engagement.

Robust analytics offer insights into employee engagement so you can refine your HR strategies with real data. Whether it’s improving onboarding, boosting benefits awareness, or supporting managers, Simpplr provides the tools to create a more engaged and informed workforce.

Ready to find out how Simpplr can help you shape a future-ready organization? Request a demo today.