As with any new year, there are emerging HR challenges that require innovative solutions to overcome them. These HR challenges include some of the biggest trends that HR professionals should be aware of as we head into 2025.
While last year’s HR trends are still relevant, the latest trends for 2025 have shifted to focus more on leadership and employee needs.
Embracing the Latest HR Trends for 2025
HR professionals should review these top trends to stay on the cutting edge of workforce management and be able to utilize these trends to create solutions for these new challenges.
Managing Employee Well-Being and Stress
Employee stressors have been a contributing factor to poor productivity and sometimes even the inability to perform normal work duties. Many employees suffer from anxiety that can be attributed to workplace and / or off-the-clock duties. Studies have shown a 25% increase in both anxiety and depression worldwide since the events of the COVID-19 Pandemic, and these increases in anxiety can have a contagious effect on other employees in the workforce causing further complications in employee well-being.
In situations like these, HR managers should consider taking a nurturing approach to their employees who are suffering from anxieties in the workplace. Interestingly, while 68% of employees are more focused on improving their well-being over career advancement, many of the stressors employees face day-to-day occur from workloads, demanding projects, and long hours from their jobs. In these scenarios, it's up to HR managers to find proper solutions for their employees' issues.
Some solutions HR managers should consider include:
- Fostering a deeper connection with their employees such as having in-depth performance reviews or career advancement conversations
- Create a more open-ended work environment including scheduling options such as hybrid work or flexible hours for employees to take advantage of
- Actively listening to staff needs while also keeping track of potential flight risks to understand how and why employees feel the way they do in the workplace
These tasks can be executed efficiently and streamlined in an all-encompassing HCM Suite that allows managers to review employee performance and analytics.
New Changes in HR Leadership
As time goes on, company leadership passes on to the next generation of senior professionals who must take on newfound responsibilities. In 2025 the increase in executive retirees from the baby boomer generation has now lead to a need where leadership is being fulfilled by Gen X workers. In fact, 68% of Fortune 500 company CEOs have already transferred to Gen X leaders as of 2018. This new wave of leadership brings more of a corporate social responsibility approach than before.
Considering the emphasis on leadership change and new approaches, HR managers should stay focused on analyzing potential candidates suited to take on new leadership roles. This may also further engage employees to help minimize the growing trends in employee well-being.
Exploring Uses of AI in HR
The rise of AI in business transcends HR, but its effects have made an impact on how certain duties can be performed. Automation in HR has made impacts in many ways, including recruitment, payroll, and compliance tasks. Research conducted by Gartner has found that 38% of HR managers have adopted AI-based solutions to solve their challenges.
While AI is still an experimental tool, further research from Gartner suggests that 76% of HR professionals believe their organization will fall behind others if AI solutions are not leveraged within the next year or two. To keep up with the trend of AI in HR, managers should seek to embrace these AI-automated solutions for HR tasks including:
- Automated day-to-day tasks
- Automated compliance updates
- Generating relevant analytics for employee work and performance
- Simplify payroll processes
Reinforcing Growth Within Company Culture
This trend shows that a potential weakness for some HR managers is keeping the consistency of company culture. Research suggests that 53% of employees struggle to keep their trust in their employer, while on the other hand only 63% of organizations have trust in their workforce. This stark disconnect between employees and employers suggests a lack of connection within the organization.
HR managers should further their efforts into engaging employees to keep them invested in the company’s core values and the culture it impacts. This can be accomplished with varying solutions that may include:
- Creating an inclusive environment using HR systems helps connect employees with more groups within the organization
- Strengthening employee learning efforts to help break poor habits in the workplace and give employees a boost in their career
- Building employee skills to further their worth within the organization
With proper HR technology, our Performance Management Solution helps align goals for the organization while increasing employee skills.
Importance of Pay Transparency and Pay Equity
New legislative changes are shaping the requirements with which HR managers must comply. For talent acquisition, this falls into laws regarding pay transparency and pay equity.
What is Pay Transparency?
Pay transparency involves the disclosure of compensation to an employee for a job offer. The growing trend of pay transparency laws can include regulations regarding:
- Job postings requiring salary, wages, and / or benefits offered
- Requesting a candidate's previous salary (prohibited)
Laws that detail pay transparency are not federally mandated, however, laws have been passed and considered for specific states and municipalities. As of 2025, Arizona does not have pay transparency laws in place.
Keeping up with pay transparency updates should be an essential task for any HR manager regardless if laws exist within their state or municipality. With the use of HR Compliance software, employers can receive the necessary requirements for federal and state labor laws to stay updated with regulations and avoid costly violations.
What is Pay Equity?
Pay equity focuses on ensuring equal compensation treatment between employees based on sex for comparable work. Unlike pay transparency laws, the Equal Pay Act (EPA) is a federal law and does apply to Arizona. Despite this, there are some employers who do not comply with the EPA which causes the wage gap issue to become a trend.
It is key for all HR professionals to pay their staff appropriately. Satisfying employee pay will ensure that employees give trust to their employer which can positively affect company culture.
How to Capitalize on These HR Trends
With so many trends relating to different HR challenges, it's important to review each trend and try to capitalize on potential solutions. Finding solutions to these new issues can require a lot of lengthy processes when done manually. Having a core HR Solution can help streamline processes like talent acquisition and compensation management.
If your organization needs further HR support regarding any of 2025’s latest trends, contact us today and schedule a free consultation.
