How HR’s 2026 to-do list will change your workplace

The era of the empowered worker is behind us, at least for now. The last year has seen a stark reversal of the dynamics that were at play in the aftermath of the pandemic, when employers were scrambling to hold onto their workers. Companies couldn’t seem to cut jobs fast enough in 2025, as over a million layoffs swept across tech giants and other major employers. Hiring came to a standstill as the corporate world grappled with political headwinds and economic anxieties. Employers have gone all in on artificial intelligence, in the hopes that it will make their workers infinitely more productive. 

“We are entering a new phase that is much more employer-centric in terms of who holds the keys,” says Lars Schmidt, the founder of HR consultancy Amplify and the vice president of talent acquisition and innovation at superfruit startup Fruitist. “With all the volatility of the job market, the displacement of jobs from AI and automation, and the economic uncertainty causing some companies to dial back—I think that the power is very much in the employer’s hands again, and kind of at the detriment of employees.”

In this climate, the role of human resources has grown ever more complicated—and crucial, as they seek to keep employees motivated and manage burnout alongside mounting demands from their employers. Here’s what HR leaders are focused on and expect to see in the year to come. 

AI: ‘We’re making it up as we go’

As workplaces invest in generative AI, many HR leaders are being tasked with not only using those tools to streamline their own operations, but also to help companies figure out how to deploy the technology effectively across their organization. Schmidt argues it’s an opportunity for people in HR to step up and help shape how their company approaches AI. 

“Like any emerging technology with the promise of automation and less headcount and more profit, there’s going to be pressure to use that,” he says. “It’s just as important to have a clear point of view of where not to use AI than where to use AI, and you can’t be a strategic adviser to your C suite peers if you are not informed yourself.” 

Melanie Naranjo, the head of people at HR compliance training startup Ethena, believes companies are now reevaluating their AI investments, after throwing money at expensive AI tools or unsuccessfully attempting to automate jobs. Many HR teams are also thinking about how to encourage employees to get adequately trained on AI without making it an onerous burden: “How do you keep a workforce trained on the latest and greatest in AI adoption, when AI is constantly changing?” she says. “How do you structure that? What does that fall under? How do you hold people accountable? Is there space to do it in a strategic way that doesn’t burn everyone out?”

Another challenge for some HR leaders is how to determine compensation and pay packages for valuable AI talent, or potential hires who are well versed in AI—something that many of them are figuring out in real time, amid economic uncertainty. 

“It’s really worth as much as you’re willing to pay for it at this point,” Naranjo says. “I imagine over time this will even out, because the long-term expectation will likely be that everyone has some level of AI expertise within their field. But right now we’re all just asking each other and making it up as we go, candidly.” 

Focus on retention over hiring

Amid a hiring slowdown and a tricky job market that favors employers, many workers are staying put—otherwise known as job hugging, in recent parlance—rather than looking for new opportunities. For companies, this presents its own challenge. 

“A lot of employees are hesitant to make a move right now, given all the volatility and uncertainty,” Schmidt says. “So they are kind of growing roots, which creates some tension. The natural attrition of an organization—through both voluntary and involuntary turnover—creates a bit of a steady flow of talent in and out of the organization.” 

Workers also face new pressures as their employers expect them to both embrace AI and use it to boost their productivity. Companies, in turn, may see a dip in morale and find that employees are checked out—which means HR leaders need to figure out how to incentivize them. 

“Even in the midst of this being an employer market, I think smart employers are going to start thinking a little bit more about retention,” says Naranjo. “The reality is your top performers are always going to be able to find work, regardless of the market. And then everyone else? Even though they’re not leaving in droves because of the market, productivity and morale is going to start to shift.”

In the past, the answer might have been to give employees a generous raise. Now, Naranjo says, many HR leaders are trying to figure out how to reward them in a “low-cost, low-lift way.” Beyond looking at compensation, one way companies could address this is by expanding benefits. While benefits are not nearly as much of a focus as they were during the Great Resignation—when companies were clamoring to retain employees—they remain a competitive advantage for many organizations, particularly around fertility and caregiving. 

Mita Mallick, a workplace strategist and former DEI executive, argues that companies have an opportunity to differentiate themselves—and retain top performers—by investing in unique benefits. Mallick points to platforms like Multiply Mortgage, which helps employees get a mortgage and discounted rate. 

“With some of these benefits, you might be like, well, it’s niche utilization,” Mallick says. “Cost utilization is low, but then those individuals become your company advocates.” 

Housing-related benefits are also an example of employers essentially providing social services that would not otherwise be covered. Mallick cites paid leave, which has repeatedly faced pushback as a federal policy. 

“When government fails, and there [are] gaps in the infrastructure, companies are stepping up,” she adds. 

Investing in DEI . . . quietly

Back in 2020, the racial reckoning in the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder led many companies to make bold promises about diversity, equity, and inclusion. Some of them pledged hundreds of millions of dollars to bolster these commitments—but in the years since, the appetite for DEI has radically changed. After the Supreme Court ruling on affirmative action in 2023, corporate America slowly backed away from DEI work, particularly as right wing agitators like Robby Starbuck ramped up public pressure on companies. And over the last year in particular, the Trump administration has set its sights on DEI programs across both the federal government and private sector, even threatening to investigate corporate employers who engage in “illegal” DEI work. 

All this has seemingly set the stage for a public retreat from DEI, as many employers fear legal action and being targeted by the Trump administration. Across the federal workforce, DEI offices were shut down, and many DEI professionals in the corporate world lost their jobs as the work fell out of fashion. Companies eliminated representation goals and pulled out of external rankings that measure workplace inclusion. 

But while employers have, in fact, slashed DEI programs, a number of them are merely rebranding it as “belonging”—or doing the work behind closed doors. 

For certain companies, this shift is more about revising the language of DEI, which has been weaponized by conservatives: “When you look at the fundamentals of why DEI is important, that didn’t change,” Schmidt says. “What [has] changed is how people are twisting the definition for political purposes.”

As DEI teams have shrunk—or have been dismantled altogether—some of this work has fallen to employee resource groups or is now within the purview of HR. But on the whole, many of the companies that have publicly pulled back on their investments in DEI were never particularly committed. 

“There are people quietly doing the work,” Mallick says. “And there are people who never wanted to do the work. It was performative. It checked the box—and now they have permission to say they don’t need to do it.” 

Navigating a new political climate

A few years ago, many HR leaders felt compelled to speak out about politics and current events. But the tides have turned, as many CEOs and other executives have largely avoided weighing in on political issues since Trump assumed office again. 

“There was a lot of pressure on HR leaders to take a stance on every event that took place,” Schmidt says. “Now we’re obviously in a very different environment… You’re seeing very few companies speaking out in this current environment for fear of retribution.” 

For some folks in HR, this has been a bit of a welcome correction; for others, it’s an adjustment after years of being more vocal. 

At the moment, against the backdrop of an immigration crackdown that has claimed the lives of two civilians in Minnesota, some HR leaders have felt like they need to acknowledge what’s happening around them. “What I’m sensing in one-off conversations with HR professionals is: ‘I kind of want to say something, but I don’t know how it will be received, and I don’t know if it’s the right time,’” Naranjo says. 

While a handful of tech workers and leaders have finally commented on the violence in Minnesota, most of them have remained relatively silent. An open letter from the CEOs of Minnesota-based companies like Target and Best Buy called for “an immediate deescalation of tensions” but stopped short of any pointed condemnations. 

“You’re seeing very few business leaders stepping into the moment and making a statement,” Schmidt says. “CEOs understandably don’t want to put a target on their company.” This reticence leaves HR leaders in a tough spot, if they feel a responsibility to speak out or their employees are demanding it. 

But Naranjo says companies should recognize there can be a cost to not acknowledging the political moment. 

“From an HR perspective, that’s not actually a distraction,” she says. “Your employees are already distracted. So if you’re being really strategic about this, and your employees are struggling, you can actually help them focus and be more productive by addressing it correctly.”