Thinking about the rest of 2025, 1 in 5 chief human resource officers said they plan to decrease hiring during the next six months, nearly doubling the 11% who said the same a year ago, according to an Aug. 20 report from The Conference Board.
Instead of growing their workforce, CHROs are bracing for change, the report found. Half said they planned to invest in change management training for leaders, and nearly half said they’re investing in similar training for managers.
“CHROs are taking a more thoughtful, steady approach as economic and policy uncertainty lingers,” Diana Scott, leader of The Conference Board’s U.S. Human Capital Center, said in a news release.
“This slowdown in hiring isn’t about losing confidence — it’s about being smart and strategic,” Scott said. “Right now, leaders are focused on strengthening their current teams, managing change well and staying flexible before making big moves to hire again.”
In a survey of more than 100 CHROs, two-thirds said they feel confident about their organization’s ability to manage upcoming change. However, they also feel they need to prepare leaders and invest in training. Notably, more than a third of CHROs said they’re standardizing change management practices.
Overall, CHROs’ outlook on the state of the workforce remained stable. About a third said they expect employee retention to improve during the next six months, continuing similar trends from 2024. Another 16% expect employee retention to decrease.
CHRO optimism about employee engagement appeared to be up as well, with nearly half expecting engagement to increase and only 14% believing engagement will decrease.
Financial difficulties have prompted nearly 8 in 10 HR leaders to conduct multiple rounds of layoffs during the past year, according to a survey from outplacement firm Careerminds. Rather than preparing with long-term planning, some organizations seem to be trending toward “reactive workforce management,” the firm said.
About 80% of hiring managers also anticipate a looming recession, with nearly half expecting it to occur within the next year, according to a survey from Express Employment Professionals-Harris Poll. In response, 83% said they’re taking proactive steps by trimming expenses, streamlining processes, cross-training workers, leaving vacant roles unfilled and conducting layoffs.