This year has brought a great deal of change in the workplace. Debates rage on about remote vs in-office working, the effectiveness and importance of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), and whether employers are stultifying productivity. Meanwhile, landmark legal changes like the Flexible Working Act and a new duty to protect workers from sexual harassment came into effect, and a host of further changes were mooted by the new governmentโs โMake Work Payโ campaign.
With this rollercoaster of a year in mind, we asked HR leaders what theyโre expecting to happen in 2025, and how they plan on addressing forthcoming challenges.
AI will continue to reform workplaces
Toria Walters, chief people officer (CPO) for digital transformation company ANS, predicted thatย AIย will automate further tasks, to help HR practitioners focus on decision making.
โAI will help automate tasks like interview scheduling and data entry, allowing teams to focus on higher-value activities such as building diverse cultures, offering personalised development, and enhancing employee engagement,โ she toldย HRย magazine. โAs we look toward 2025, tools like Microsoftโs Co-pilot and advancedย generative AI will provide real-time insights, automate complex tasks, and support decision-making.โ
She also predicted that AI will enhance roles in HR, rather than replace them: โConcerns remain about AI replacing jobs. But in reality, AI enhances roles, giving HR professionals the opportunity to upskill and shift from administrative duties to more people-focused, strategic work,โ Walters added.
2. Employers will prioritise flexible work
The government has signalled that it would use itsย Employment Rights Billย to expand current duties on flexible working. Flexible working is already a day-one right thanks to legislation introduced by the former Conservative government, which came into effect from 1 April 2024.
However, the new government is looking to explain this right so that employers can only refuseย flexible workingย if it is reasonable to do so, and employers must state their reasons.
Speaking toย HRย magazine, Barbara Matthews, CPO for HR software provider Remote, predicted that legislation will push flexible working to the top of employersโ agendas.
She said: โThe new government has signalled a wide range of employment law changes. While few, if any, will take effect in 2025, there is clearly an ongoing cultural shift in the UK towards flexible work as default.
โThis shift, combined with the governmentโs push to tackle economic inactivity andย long-term sickness, will see more businesses move towards offering flexible working to employees as part of their wider benefits package.โ
Matthews added that flexibility will be particularly impactful for working parents, who have limited affordable childcare options.
โWith recruitment teams continuing to look for opportunities to plug growing skills gaps in almost every industry, offering real flexibility, particularly for working parents, will become a key offering for HR teams looking to acquire talent in 2025,โ she said.
Leaders will push for productivity
In Q3 2024, productivity was estimated to be 1.8% lower compared with a year ago, according to the ONS.
According to Rachel Farley, partner at professional services consultancy at Heidrick and Struggles, leaders will push their departments to increaseย productivityย in the coming year.
Farley toldย HRย magazine: โThough the workforce has signs of exhaustion and compromised wellbeing, CEOs want more with less.
โFor the CPO, the productivity of the companyโs people has become vital, which also brings new challenges. CPOs will be bringing people and productivity into harmony by embracing modes of working outside of the 40-hour week workforce.
“This will require CPOs to have an intimate knowledge of the businessโ key commercial levers, and innovating to find a human way to growย sustainably.โ
