Here’s the review of last year’s predictions on the HR market.
We usually give ourselves a mark out of 10. This year, I asked Chat GPT to do the
work for me, and below is what the AI provided me with (our own mark out of ten is underneath as we were not 100% aligned with the Bot!!).
A significant advancement in the use of AI in HR:
AI score 9/10.
Peoplecorp score 9 or even 10/10
This was hardly a ground breaking prediction but it is still quite astounding the rate at which AI has grown and influenced our ways of working. Interesting that AI only gave itself a 9/10!! Scary to think how much faster it will grow in 2025….
An increase in the number of HR Executive Interim placements:
AI score 8/10
Peoplecorp score 8/10
We agree with AI’s verdict. This continues to remain an area of growth for 2025. Companies continue to hire senior HR expertise for short, sharp projects.
HR Operations and ER roles to increase:
AI score 7/10
Peoplecorp score 10/10
Of all the different parts of an HR function, these were probably the areas where we saw a steady constant volume of roles all year. Certainly, there was never a time when our temp team were not looking for ER specialists, and we worked on a number of ‘Head of’ Ops type roles, perhaps indicating that the advancement of HR tech still required a seasoned human to navigate the implementation and impact.
Retention of key talent, organisational culture and employee wellbeing to be
the main themes for HR Leaders:
AI score 9/10
Peoplecorp score 8/10
In retrospect, when is this not a key priority for HR Executives, so unsurprising that we saw this one come to fruition. Whilst hiring for these roles wasn’t necessarily a focus, we definitely noticed these as being consistently key themes with our HR Executive community. Psycho-safety and ensuring they provided a great place to work have been top of the pops for CPOs.
A significant increase in the amount of time spent in the office:
AI score 8/10
Peoplecorp score 8/10
You’d think discussions around working from home or office would have become irrelevant by now, but in fact it is still one of the biggest topics for job seekers and HR Leaders. We definitely saw more people spend an increased amount time in the office; but there is a clear line we are noticing between those Leaders demanding their people return to the office 4 or 5 days a week, and many job seekers who will not budge on their requirement to work from home at least 2 days a week.
An increase in lateral career moves:
AI score 8/10
Peoplecorp score 7/10
As the market remained flat in 2024 (or consistently inconsistent as we called it), we definitely noticed candidates happily moving laterally, rather than up the career ladder. This was due to a combination of there being less roles available, but also points to a trend of some candidates being very comfortable to take a role that provides better work/life balance.
