Dive Brief:
- While HR employment has grown at a much faster rate than overall employment over the last three decades, demand for HR workers is more than 20% below pre-pandemic levels as of December 2025, according to a report from SHRM, released Feb. 10.
- Job postings for HR positions tend to mention artificial intelligence and machine learning skills more often than the wider U.S. labor market, as well, SHRM said; 3.1% of HR job postings mentioned AI, compared to 2.3% of wider market postings.
- “Despite HR’s central role, the sector faces economic volatility, uncertain hiring environments, and technological disruption — notably from advanced AI tools designed to streamline HR functions,” SHRM said in a release.
Dive Insight:
SHRM’s study analyzed both Current Population Survey data and Lightcast job postings data to assess the status of the HR job market. Its findings align with surveys indicating that HR leaders have had to become AI champions as the technology becomes commonplace, despite their misgivings. CHROs and C-suite leaders told AMS in a recent report that they expected to hire “more AI-savvy leaders” in the next two years.
“This research clearly demonstrates how the landscape has changed for HR across the last few years,” James Atkinson, vice president of thought leadership at SHRM, said in a statement. “The HR profession has had to pivot constantly to keep pace with ongoing talent shortages, rapid technological change, and the lingering effects of the pandemic.”
But HR can often be sidelined from AI implementation, other surveys have said. Only 12% of survey respondents in Beamery’s report said CHROs were among the top influential decision-makers regarding AI.
Additionally, HR practitioners still may not trust AI to make many workforce decisions, a January report from Avature showed. Respondents were more comfortable assigning the tools “repetitive, low-risk” tasks, the report said.
Generally, employers are adjusting their hiring practices following the mass layoffs — and then massive rehirings — that occurred in the wake of the pandemic, experts told HR Dive. Employers now are turning to precision hiring, various reports indicate, all in the hunt for specific, high-demand skills.