As 2024 approaches, the workplace and employment practices will undergo major changes. Experts predict 2025 will be a year of both challenges and opportunities.
Here’s what experts in the industry predict for 2019. From adopting AI to navigating complex compliance issues and redefining working arrangements, these are some of the predictions for 2019.
Dayforce Predictions
Amy Cappellanti Wolf, Dayforce’s Chief People Officer, stresses the importance of strategic collaboration between HR leaders, and executives.
As organisations put greater emphasis on cash flow and profitability, they actively seek efficiencies and optimise existing resources. She says that by 2025, strategic leaders in HR will have to work closely with CEOs to fuel business growth and drive transformation.
As CEOs prepare to face continued disruption and uncertainty in the workplace, HR leaders will be an important voice within the executive leadership teams. They can help balance the need for business efficiency and productivity while creating an environment which attracts, retains and develops top talent. To be strategic partners in this time of rapid change, HR teams must embrace technology and real-time information.
Nicole Bello highlights compliance challenges as Dayforce’s Group Vice President of EMEA.
She says that in 2025, organizations will have to prepare for increased compliance complexity due to rapidly changing regulation. Employers need to be compliant from day one, as Labour’s Employment Bill of Rights could change policies on maternity and sick leave, redundancy, dismissal, and flexible working legislation. To effectively navigate this growing complexity, HR teams must embrace technology and real time data.
Steve Knox, Dayforce’s Global Head of Talent Acquisition, highlights the importance of a human-centric approach to hiring.
Knox says that “Employers as well as candidates have fully embraced AI’s power in the hiring process.” In 2025, the return to human interaction will be the biggest trend in talent acquisition.
Talent acquisition teams rely heavily on AI to source, screen and assess candidates. Job seekers have responded by using technology to prepare for interviews, write resumes and even coach them during the interview. The hiring process is now largely done by technology, which can lead to mismatches. HR teams must rethink their talent strategy in order to set up their organization and new employees to succeed.
Integration of AI, upskilling and flexibility
Laura Fink is HiBob’s People and Culture Director. She anticipates that AI will continue to be integrated into the workplace.
Fink believes that 2025 will see AI’s role refined. 2024 was the year of AI’s widespread adoption, Fink says. Businesses will integrate AI seamlessly into workflows in order to improve decision-making through advanced analytics, insights into employee sentiment and productivity.
The focus will be on enhancing the skills of employees in order to make AI more effective and secure. Fink says that, while AI won’t replace jobs in a direct way, those who are skilled at using AI will be able to compete in the job market.
Fink predicts that employees will also resist rigid attendance policies, as they push for flexible working arrangements.
She says that employees will rebel against strict attendance policies. While many employers think that a mandatory return to the workplace will increase productivity I urge them to reconsider their expectation that employees work a traditional 9-5, Monday to Friday. The employees want flexible working arrangements. Employers risk losing their employees or decreasing productivity if they do not allow unique working patterns that promote employee satisfaction and individual productivity.
Catfishing and Burnout: The Death of CVs
Molly Johnson Jones, CEO of Flexa warns that “corporate catfishing”, which is becoming more common as flexible working rights are expanded, will become more prevalent.
Many employers are interested in flexible work because it attracts talent, but they cannot or do not want to accommodate other ways of working. She says that false claims or misleading job ads can result. The Employment Rights Bill is only going to increase the number of cases of corporate catfishing. All employers will be technically ‘open to flexibility’, since new flexible working rights give all employees a default right to request flexible work and to access it. Flexibility is a must for job seekers, while employers who are not transparent will have unhappy employees.
A perfect storm is creating the conditions for hybrid work in 2025. The demand for greater flexibility is being driven by younger workers who have studied remotely. Businesses are not able to or willing to meet this demand. Grads will not be able live with their parents forever and demand fully remote work. The economy is expected to remain weak for the foreseeable future, so many employees and employers will have to compromise and accept a mix of office and home-based work.
Khyati Sunderam, CEO at Applied, believes that AI will eventually replace traditional CVs. Sundaram says that “ChatGPT is the death of CVs” and praises the shift to skills-based hiring, which offers greater efficiency and fairness.
Skills-based hiring begins with anonymous applications that include questions based on skills. “Ethical AI can assist hiring teams in making this process more efficient and objective.” says she. Then, other tests that don’t lend themselves well to ChatGPT – such as cognitive ability tests or numerical aptitude tests – can be used to filter out top talent. This will give candidates more chances to show their abilities in the areas where they excel, and to find roles in which they can thrive. It will help employers separate the true talent from the tech.”
Gareth Burrows of BreatheHR, the founder, predicts an increase in “burnout-blocking” technologies.
Employers will stop reacting to burnout and instead create cultures and policies that prevent it proactively. Inspire by the plans of the government, many employers will introduce policies that allow staff to disconnect from work in order to improve their work-life balance. Breathe HR’s research shows that many workers do not take the full amount of annual leave.
Human Resources software will be used to track when employees are not taking enough vacation. HR technology will be used to help ensure compliance and to help teams implement policy changes to protect staff wellbeing and to help them thrive.
Global geopolitical changes
Karoli Hindriks is the co-founder and CEO at immigration and relocation platform Jobbatical. She anticipates that workplace arrangements will continue to be a topic of debate. She highlights the polarised approach, with some organizations mandating full-time attendance in office and others embracing a remote work model. The ability to attract talent and retain it will be a key factor for determining which model succeeds, she says.
Hindriks anticipates AI adoption in all industries. Some roles will be replaced, and there will be new opportunities for those who are willing to learn and adapt.
She expects that diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), will also be pushed forward and challenged.
She says that companies are “highly susceptible to both political and ideological influences” and will be pushed in 2025 to develop programmes to support workers while appeasing regulators and governments. In the UK, this could mean stronger laws on maternity rights, menopause and flexible working. It’s possible that some workers in the U.S. will lose their rights under a Trump administration.”
Skill over Degrees
Mary Alice Vuicic is Chief People Officer at Thomson Reuters. She predicts that skills will become more important than degrees when it comes to hiring. She predicts that this shift will result in a more innovative and diverse workforce. Companies adopting AI should gain a competitive advantage by attracting top talent, as well as fostering employee growth. Vuicic predicts that personal AI assistants will be widely used to improve productivity and decision-making in the workplace. This presents both opportunities and challenges for human resource professionals.
