What Are the HR Trends Leaders Should Be Watching Now?

The workforce is changing faster than many traditional hiring and talent strategies can keep pace. AI is reshaping the skills employers need, leading to persistent shortages of skilled talent. In addition, employees are placing greater value on opportunities to learn and grow. Across industries, recent research captures the scale of these challenges:

69% of U.S. employers are still struggling to find the skilled talent they need

For leaders, the most important HR trends going into the new year point to the same priority: building a workforce that can adapt as quickly as the technology advances.

Here are the top four trends shaping this new outlook.

Trend 1: Skills Are Becoming the New Workforce Currency

Skills are becoming the primary measure of workforce capability because technology is changing jobs faster than traditional degrees and job titles can keep pace.

As technology changes how work gets done, employers increasingly need to focus on what people can do rather than relying primarily on job titles, degrees or traditional career paths. Assessing workers by their skills can give employers a clearer picture of the capabilities available across their workforce and the gaps they need to address as roles evolve. For a look at how some employers are making this shift, see Why Industrial Employers Are Moving to Skills-Based Hiring.

The pace of ongoing change makes this shift increasingly important. According to the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) 2025 Future of Jobs Report,

39% of workers’ existing skill sets are expected to be transformed or become outdated by 2030

The report cites these as the fastest-growing skillsets:

• AI and big data
• Networks and cybersecurity
• Technological literacy

Yet workforce development does not inherently accelerate to keep pace with changing skill requirements. In a recent global report, only 44% of workers reported receiving new skills training in the previous six months.

For HR leaders, skills visibility and development are pulling ahead as top strategic priorities. Identifying employees’ existing capabilities, expanding skills-based hiring and creating pathways for internal mobility can help employers address emerging gaps while making better use of talent already in the workforce.

Trend 2. Talent Shortages Aren’t Going Away

Talent shortages persist because workforce demand is evolving faster than the available supply of skills. Rapid adoption of AI and other technologies is changing skill requirements, while retirements, competition for specialized capabilities and the slow development of new workforce entrants continue to constrain supply. Simultaneously, training programs are also struggling to keep pace with changing skills requirements.

These pressures make talent scarcity more than a recruiting challenge. Employers that rely on narrow experience requirements or conventional credentials can further limit an already constrained candidate pool.

Here are some strategies to help ease the effects of ongoing talent shortages.

Skills-based hiring can help by identifying candidates whose capabilities and potential may not be apparent from their degrees or previous job titles alone.

Internal mobility and targeted development can help fill critical gaps with existing employees.

Flexible workforce models can provide access to specialized expertise when permanent hiring is difficult.

Together, these approaches shift the focus from simply competing for scarce talent to expanding the range of people and skills available to meet workforce needs. For more details, read this blog.

Trend 3. Upskilling and Reskilling Are Becoming Continuous

Upskilling and reskilling need to become continuous parts of workforce planning rather than ad hoc responses to individual vacancies or emerging technologies. As skill requirements change, employers need ways to develop needed capabilities internally instead of relying exclusively on an external labor market where many of those skills are already scarce.

The scale of the challenge makes a more systematic approach necessary. Here’s another prediction from WEF’s 2025 Future of Jobs Report:

By 2030, an estimated 59% of the global workforce will require significant training or retraining.

Effective upskilling programs should therefore identify current and emerging skills gaps and then attempt to connect employees with training and career pathways that address specific workforce needs.

Access to training will also require rethinking. According to PwC’s 2025 Global Workforce Hopes and Fears Survey,

Just 51% of non-managers say they have access to the learning and development resources they need, compared with 72% of senior executives.

Expanding access to upskilling and reskilling across the workforce will be a necessary component of helping employers build scarce capabilities internally while giving employees clearer opportunities to advance.

Trend 4. Younger Workers Have Unique Expectations from Employers

Younger workers are entering the workforce with expectations shaped by rapid technological change, disrupted early-career pathways and greater uncertainty about how their careers will develop. For Gen Z in particular, competitive compensation still matters, but so do flexibility, meaningful work and visible opportunities to progress.

Career development is especially important.

More than seven in 10 Gen Z workers report developing skills to advance their careers at least once a week, while learning and development ranks among the top three factors influencing their choice of employer.

When it comes to flexibility, that doesn’t necessarily mean fully remote work. Many want greater autonomy over when and where they work along with opportunities for in-person connection.

These expectations have implications beyond attracting Gen Z. Employers that provide clear career pathways, mentoring, skills development and appropriate flexibility can strengthen their early-career talent pipelines while developing capabilities the organization needs. For HR leaders, meeting younger workers’ expectations can therefore support both recruitment and longer-term workforce development.

How Can HR Leaders Turn These Trends Into Action?

HR leaders can start by connecting workforce planning more closely to the skills their organizations will need next. This process should include:

• Regularly mapping emerging skills gaps
• Identifying capabilities already present in the workforce
• Determining which needs can be met through hiring, internal development or flexible talent models

This is particularly important as organizations integrate AI. As ManpowerGroup President and Chief Strategy Officer Becky Frankiewicz recently stated in an interview with Fortune:

“AI isn’t coming for our jobs. It’s coming to our jobs.”

HR leaders should therefore consider technology and workforce development together, identifying where AI will change roles and what skills employees will need alongside it.

Skills-based hiring, accessible upskilling and clearer internal career pathways can then help organizations build those capabilities. The goal is a workforce strategy that anticipates changing business needs rather than reacting to shortages after they emerge.

The Takeaways

The workforce trends shaping HR today all point to a common reality: skills, adaptability and employee development are becoming critical drivers of business success.

Trend	Why It Matters	Recommended Action
Skills-Based Hiring	Roles are changing rapidly	Map workforce skills
Talent Shortages	Demand exceeds supply	Expand talent pools
Continuous Upskilling	Skills have shorter shelf lives	Increase upskilling programs
Gen Z Expectations	Development affects retention	Build career pathways

Build a Workforce Ready for What’s Next

The most important HR trends right now are converging around a common challenge: employers need the right skills at a time when those skills are changing quickly and remain difficult to find. Manpower helps HR leaders navigate changing workforce needs with flexible talent solutions and workforce expertise.

Explore Manpower’s workforce solutions to find the talent and skills your organization needs to move forward.