2023 was a busy year for HR professionals. Alongside all the usual internal challenges that teams faced – such aCurious about what 2025 holds for HR? While a year can bring significant change, Ciphr’s experts and HR professionals from around the UK have shared their insights on what may shape the HR landscape in 2025.
In this article:
- Which trends are affecting UK organisations and their HR teams the most?
- Will organisations increase their investment in HR technology?
- Which areas of HR functionality will organisations invest in?
- What will be the major drivers behind HR tech investment?
Five challenges for HR in 2025
HR trends 2024: a recap
Want a reminder of what trends and challenges impacted the world of HR in 2024? We’ve got you! Check out our HR trends 2024 webinar for a quick refresher.
HR trends 2025: the big picture impacting HR
In October 2024, we conducted a survey about what the 2025 HR landscape might look like. More than 40 Ciphr staff members across multiple departments and 68 external HR experts participated. Of the Ciphr participants, 32% hold or are studying for a CIPD qualification and 33% are CIPD members. Among our external respondents, those numbers rose to 66% and 58% respectively.
Which trends are affecting UK organisations and their HR teams the most?
Both our internal and external participants rated these as their top three trends:
- Rising cost of living/wage expectations
- Mental and physical wellbeing concerns
- Rising cost of business
Other key factors include artificial intelligence (AI), climate change, change in UK government and skills shortages.
How will spending on HR software change?
Here are the changes we anticipate:
Do you think organisations who are looking for a new HR software provider will increase their investment in HR technology in 2025?
Ciphr respondents said:
- Yes, they will invest more but will be more strategic with their spending – 38%
- No, they will keep spending the same – 35%
- No, they will be looking to cut costs – 22%
- Yes, they will invest more – 5%
While external respondents said:
- Yes, they will invest more but will be more strategic with their spending – 48%
- No, they will be looking to cut costs – 27%
- No, they will keep spending the same – 23%
- Yes, they will invest more – 3%
Which areas of HR technology functionality would you expect organisations to invest more in in 2025?
Ciphr respondents said:
- Talent management
- Employee engagement and surveys
- Compliance
- Health and wellbeing
- Benefits management
While external respondents said:
- Recruitment
- Health and wellbeing
- Onboarding
- Employee engagement and surveys
- eLearning
What will be the major drivers behind HR technology investment in 2025?
Ciphr respondents said:
- Better analytics and reporting
- Desire for greater efficiency/reduced manual processes
- Better integration with other business applications, such as payroll
- Cost saving
- Better user experience
While external respondents said:
- Desire for greater efficiency/reduced manual processes
- Better user experience
- Better analytics and reporting
- Want to automate more HR admin tasks
- Cost saving
Do any of these challenges sound familiar? Our HR software could help. Get in touch for a chat to see if we’re the right fit or download our brochure to learn more about our solutions.
Five challenges for HR in 2025
Our survey asked how significant certain challenges would be to UK organisations and their UK teams in 2025. Here are the top five challenges according to our internal experts:
- Finding talent in a difficult market
- Employee engagement and feedback
- Supporting employee mental health
- GDPR and data security
- Skills shortages
And these are the top five challenges according to the external participants:
- Offering competitive salaries/benefits packages
- Finding the right talent in a difficult market
- Offering structured career development opportunities
- Leading or managing change projects
- Upskilling employees
If reading that has got you feeling a little antsy, don’t worry! We’ve got the answers. Our HR gurus – chief operations and people officer Claire Williams and director of people Karen Lough – will be tackling those challenges and offering tangible solutions in a free webinar on 16 January 2025. Join us, so you can feel prepared for whatever 2025 has in store for HR.
Watch your HR department thrive in 2025
Despite the challenges listed above, there are a host of solutions you as an HR professional can implement to watch your department thrive and grow in 2025. Investing in HR solutions, from HR software and LMS to recruitment, can help you meet these challenges head on. Automate tasks, facilitate eLearning, monitor trends through robust reporting and more – all with the help of Ciphr.
If you want to learn more about how we can help your HR department meet their goals in 2025, download our brochure or book a demo today.