What the HR Industry Can Expect in 2025
As we look into the 2025 Crystal Ball of Certainty (amazing what you can find on Facebook Marketplace), it envisions a world in which the HR industry is on the verge of a significant transformation.
Gone are the days when HR was just about staffing, discipline, and paperwork.
Today, HR is being viewed more and more as a strategic powerhouse shaping the future of work. Let’s dive into the trends that will define HR in 2025, and explore what developments ahead will play a crucial role in this new era.
Technological and Analytical Advancements Will Drive HR
Savvy HR departments (or at least ones with savvy executives who understand its importance) are already using modern technologies and analytics to predict and assess everything from employee retention to recruitment strategies to the success of wellness programs and productivity.
Technology, of course, should serve to augment the capabilities of HR teams as well as provide the employees they’re supporting with a better experience.
“Technology is enabling us to provide employees with a more consumer type of presence at work, with a greater ability to have richer digital experiences and find what they need 24/7,” says Larry Nash, U.S. director of recruiting at EY.
AI and automation are stepping up to handle repetitive tasks like payroll, onboarding, leave management, and even answering employee questions through chatbots. Predictive analytics give HR teams their own crystal ball of sorts to identify workforce patterns and anticipate employee and employer needs alike, reducing turnover and improving operational output.
Technology and analytical advancements are the driving force behind transforming HR from a reactive to a proactive and indispensable function for organizational growth. In 2025, being tech-savvy will be as essential for HR professionals as people skills once were (and still are, of course).
Balancing the human side with tech will define the future of the profession.
A Shift in HR Practices and Positioning
By 2025, HR will undergo a major shift not only in its practices but also in how it positions itself within the organization’s power structure. Gone are the days of HR simply managing compliance and employee relations from the sidelines.
HR leaders will need to master the art of navigating internal politics and building strong relationships with the C-suite to truly elevate their departments and, by extension, the entire organization.
One of the biggest game-changers? Speaking the C-suite’s language of data and ROI. Executives are driven by metrics, KPIs, and business outcomes, and for HR to have a seat at the decision-making table, it must embrace data-driven insights.
By leveraging data analytics, HR can forecast workforce trends, identify skill gaps, and quantify the impact of employee engagement on business performance. This shift allows HR to position itself as a strategic business partner, rather than a reactive department.
Imagine HR not just presenting the usual retention and turnover rates but providing insights into how talent strategies directly contribute to revenue growth or operational efficiency. HR professionals will need to transition from being task managers to workforce advisors, ensuring their department plays a key role in executing business strategy.
As HR leaders master these skills, they can transform not only how they’re perceived within the company but also how they help drive business success.
What Will Be the HR Jobs of the Future?
So if you’re going to be more data-driven, and you’re spending less time on manual, tedious, and repetitive tasks, what new job functions are expected to emerge?
According to the Talent Management Platform GFoundry, People Experience departments will emerge.
As businesses increasingly acknowledge the vital role employee experience plays in driving operational performance, there will be a shift from traditional HR toward the emergence of “People Experience Departments.”
This trend represents a more comprehensive approach to talent management, focusing on the entire employee experience rather than just HR processes. These departments will be designed to enhance every touchpoint of an employee’s journey, fostering higher engagement and boosting productivity.
As for specific roles, SHRM predicts the following jobs to be prevalent in future HR departments:
HR Data Scientist
Employee Experience Specialist
Head of Talent-Acquisition Technology
Head of Candidate Experience
Performance Coach
Organizational Psychologist
Every organization is unique, of course, and the way in which yours evolves will likely influence how quickly and effectively you’ll be able to help keep your organization thriving in this new competitive landscape.
Focus on Employee Well-being and Experience
We’ve been alluding to this throughout, but by 2025, employee well-being will take center stage in the hearts and minds of HR departments across all industries.
Physical, mental, and emotional health aren’t just buzzwords, they’re essential components of a productive and happy workforce and have been for some time.
From wellness programs to mental health support to robust leave of absence policies, HR will be tasked with creating a workplace environment that supports the whole person throughout their entire employee lifecycle.
But it won’t stop there. HR will need to focus on the full employee experience, from the first interview to career development and all the foundational experiences in between. Almost like being a career concierge for your workforce.
By focusing on well-being, companies not only retain top talent but also boost engagement and productivity.
And let’s not forget: a happy, healthy employee is far less likely to burn out and need extensive leave time when you least expect it. It’s about investing in people upfront and throughout, so both employees and companies reap the benefits down the line.
Skills-Based Hiring and Workforce Transformation
Credentials are so 2019. By 2025, the trend will shift toward skills-based hiring. Instead of focusing solely on degrees and past job titles, HR teams will prioritize the specific skills candidates bring to the table. It’s all about what you can do, not just what’s on paper.
According to TestGorilla’s 2024 Skills-Based Hiring Report, two surprising statistics stand out:
81% of employers use skills-based hiring (up from 73% in 2023 and 56% in 2022)
94% agree that skills-based hiring is more predictive of on-the-job success than resumes
This shift means HR will need to sharpen their talent radar, identifying the skills that will be crucial for the future. This could range from technical abilities to soft skills like adaptability and emotional intelligence.
The workforce has also changed dramatically, as gig workers and remote employees are much more established in the workplace ecosystem. It’s on HR to manage this diverse talent pool, ensuring the right mix of skills to drive success.
On the flip side, companies will have to focus on reskilling and upskilling their existing teams. As automation takes over repetitive tasks, employees will need new skills to stay relevant. HR will be at the heart of this transformation, guiding employees through career shifts and preparing them for the future.
DEIB Ethical Practices to Evolve in 2025
Diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB) aren’t just initiatives anymore, they’re essential to business success and In 2025 technology and AI are going to play a bigger role than ever before.
AI-driven tools are being utilized to examine diversity metrics, uncover unconscious biases, and promote fair hiring and advancement practices. In hybrid work settings, technology plays a crucial role in fostering virtual inclusion, ensuring equal access to opportunities for all employees.
Training on cultural sensitivity, anti-harassment, and unconscious bias will remain top priorities, of course. But beyond training, HR will need to embed these values into the company culture to see the fruits of these efforts.
HR will also play a key role in ethical decision-making, ensuring the company upholds its values in all practices. From pay equity to equal opportunities for growth, HR will need to ensure that ethics are woven into the fabric of the organization. It’s not just the right thing to do; it’s also good for business.
The Importance of Leave Management in 2025
Leave management has historically been treated as a back-office, reactive function, often overshadowed by flashier HR initiatives like talent acquisition or performance management.
As we move into 2025, however, it’s stepping into the spotlight as a cornerstone of effective HR strategy for achieving larger organizational objectives. This is due to a shift in both their perception of leave and HR’s role within organizations. Leave management is no longer just about compliance or checking a box, it’s now viewed as a critical driver of employee well-being, retention, and organizational resilience.
In today’s work environment, knowledge and flexibility reign supreme.
Employees are juggling more responsibilities than ever, both at work and at home. Whether it’s caring for a new baby, recovering from an illness, or taking time for mental health, employees need leave policies that are transparent, supportive, and easy to navigate, and HR needs effective solutions to support expanding policies.
A clunky or unclear leave process not only adds stress to HR and employees alike, but can erode trust in the organization if things go awry. This is an unfortunately common result when manual processes are at play.
Conversely, a well-structured leave system shows employees they’re valued and supported, strengthening their connection to the company.
From a business perspective, the stakes are high. Companies that prioritize effective leave management will see tangible benefits; fewer cases of burnout, higher engagement, improved productivity, and ultimately, greater retention. After all, a workforce that feels cared for is a workforce that sticks around and performs at its best.
The numbers back this up as well. In a recent survey conducted by Tilt across all major industries, it was found that employers who rely on spreadsheets to manage leave experienced nearly 25% of employees no longer employed with them within the year after returning from leave.
Similarly, only 60% of the employees who did stick around hit their OKRs the following year.
Effective leave management in 2025 goes beyond spreadsheets and manual tracking. It’s about creating a seamless, user-friendly experience that aligns employee needs with organizational goals.
Leave management solutions like Tilt are here to help navigate this new leave dynamic, offering a leave management solution designed to evolve with the times and scale as organizations do. By providing seamless, compliant, and employee-centric leave management, Tilt gives HR teams the ability to focus on needle-driving initiatives with an engaged and supported workforce.
The Future of HR is Looking Bright and Sophisticated
The HR landscape is poised to transform into a dynamic blend of technology, strategy, and human-centric practices.
The integration of advanced technologies like AI, data analytics and automation will equip HR teams with the tools to make smarter, more informed decisions.
At the same time, a focus on DEIB and employee experience will push HR leaders to adopt more holistic approaches that prioritize the well-being and satisfaction of their workforce to drive business impact to new heights.
The evolution of HR roles, the emphasis on skills-based hiring, and the adaptation to hybrid work environments further highlight how this field is evolving to meet the demands of an ever-changing world of work.
Leave management stands out as a critical area that can no longer be overlooked as an emphasis on efficiency, productivity and employee well-being reaches its tipping point for thriving organizations.
As HR teams reduce administrative burdens, ensure fairness, and create a supportive environment where employees feel valued, their perception as institutional thought leaders will increase. By embracing these trends and investing in the right tools, businesses can build a resilient, engaged workforce ready to thrive in the workplace of the future.
About Tilt
Tilt is leading the charge in all things leave of absence management through easy-to-use tech and human touch. Since 2017, our proprietary platform and Empathy Warriors have been helping customers make leave not suck by eliminating administrative burdens, keeping companies compliant, and providing a truly positive and supportive leave of absence experience for their people.