The skills transformation priorities HR leaders need in 2025

2025 isn’t just the start of a new year; it’s the beginning of an entirely new chapter of work known as the Post-Industrial Era. The days of repeatable processes and predictable business needs are now behind us. Instead, our working world is ever-evolving, dynamic, and hallmarked by cutting-edge innovations like AI. 

As a result of these shifts, employees are no longer treated like cogs in a machine because talent is no longer easily replaceable. In fact, employers are vying for people with in-demand skill sets and devising new strategies so their organizations can internally develop the talent they’ll need to transform their businesses. 

Speaking of transformation, change initiatives are topping leaders’ agendas and 45% of CEOs acknowledge that their companies won’t be viable in the next decade if they stay on their current paths. Since change journeys are challenging, we’re breaking down the top five priorities every HR leader needs to turn their skills transformation vision into an unparalleled success. 

Why skills transformations are topping HR’s agendas for 2025

Skills transformations are no longer optional; instead, they are becoming a business imperative because knowledge gaps pose a great threat to operational continuity. By 2030, Korn Ferry predicts that more than 85 million jobs could go unfilled because there aren’t enough skilled people to take them, amounting to an $8.5 trillion loss in unrealized annual revenues. 

If organizations don’t have the skills needed to complete high-priority projects efficiently, their bottom lines will suffer. Employees who don’t learn new skills are at risk of falling behind and eventually losing their value to their employer. Given how fast technology is evolving—especially with recent AI innovations—employees must constantly learn new skills to stay employable. 

The top skills transformation initiatives HR leaders must prioritize in 2025 

If you’re looking to turn your skills transformation vision into a reality in the new year, here are a few action items to prioritize: 

#1. Workforce planning 

Only 15% of HR leaders currently practice strategic workforce planning, which spells trouble because virtually every organization will experience significant job and skill shifts due to the rise of AI. In the past, workforce planning was primarily a manual exercise in which HR leaders focused on headcount planning. However, in the Post Industrial Era, workforce planning must become decidedly strategic so that leaders can understand the skills they have, the knowledge they’ll need, and how to reallocate talent accordingly. 

The best workforce planning efforts take a skills-based approach that enables companies to prepare for future talent needs years in advance. To optimize their workforce planning efforts, leaders need a comprehensive view of their people’s skills. While this information was once hard to come by, AI-powered skills intelligence systems like Gloat’s Skills Foundation equip executives with the insights they’re looking for. Some platforms even include benchmarking to evaluate how your workforce’s skills stack up and forecasting abilities to identify what types of expertise are on the rise and on the decline. 

#2. Combatting change fatigue

Change is challenging—especially at the organizational level. More than one in two HR leaders view change management as a top priority and 45% say their employees are fatigued from all the changes they’ve recently experienced.

From the COVID-19 pandemic to the rise of AI, our working landscape has rapidly evolved. Since this accelerated pace of change isn’t likely to slow down any time soon,  HR leaders must develop toolkits to help employees successfully adapt to the influx of changes coming their way. While three in four organizations currently use top-down models of change management, the most successful companies recognize that transformational change requires enterprise-wide alignment. 

As a former Transformation Executive at Telstra, Alex Badenoch is an expert at enacting large-scale change efforts. She offers the following advice for leaders looking to follow in her footsteps: “What executives should be asking themselves is are they building an organization that is actually adaptable to change and moves away from our traditional world where we resisted change and held onto the way things were until we couldn’t resist anymore and then we have these horrible transitions which are really painful. Or do you build a dynamic organization that can actually constantly adjust and evolve?”

#3. The rise of AI in HR

While there’s plenty of buzz around AI, many HR professionals have yet to integrate it into their workflows. While 34% of Marketing departments regularly use GenAI, only 12% of HR teams have adopted it and only one in three executives is exploring potential GenAI use cases. This indicates that HR is potentially missing out on opportunities to become more productive and innovative within its department and the organization at large. 

Low AI adoption in HR is particularly concerning because HR typically plays a critical role in leading this type of organizational change. In fact, 76% of HR professionals believe their organization risks lagging behind its competitors if it doesn’t adopt AI technology in the next year. There are several reasons why some HR teams may be slow to implement AI-powered technologies including limited resources, a lack of clarity into AI’s potential benefits, and concerns about bias and hallucinations. Rather than letting these challenges delay AI usage, HR leaders should collaborate with their colleagues in IT to identify technology vendors that adhere to the highest standards of AI ethics. 

#4. Building sun-rising skills

Skill gaps are heading in the wrong direction. Nearly one in two organizations currently struggle with them and another 44% predict they will start experiencing shortages imminently. As skill needs shift and AI transforms jobs as we know them, leaders will find it increasingly challenging to identify the type of expertise that is most important as well as capabilities no longer in demand. 

By harnessing skills intelligence systems, executives can begin devising impactful upskilling and reskilling opportunities to ensure employees have the capabilities needed to grow with their organizations. Nina Santana Sweeney, Global Head Skills Based Organization at Standard Chartered, shares how roles at her organization are evolving to reflect shifting business priorities. “User experience, communications specialist, social media specialist, agile coach, scrum master, data scientist—those aren’t the typical roles you have in banking. So we needed to do a significant transformation,” she explains. 

Rather than relying on external hiring processes that were time-consuming and costly, Santana-Sweeney describes how her organization, “…looked at the skills we already had and how to shorten the time for our employees who had some of those skills so we could redeploy them into more sun-rising roles.”

#5. Manager support 

Managers are under increasing pressure and face loftier expectations than ever before. Unfortunately, many are struggling to keep pace, with 71% reporting feeling overwhelmed, stressed, or burnt out. Although most organizations are significantly updating their leadership programs and planning to increase spending, manager development remains lacking: only 36% of HR leaders think their organization’s current leadership development programs are effective at preparing leaders for future challenges. 

Rather than simply investing more, leaders must rethink how their training plans are structured. To support the development of key management skills, people need time to build lasting connections and practice these abilities. Employees should have the chance to hone coaching skills through hands-on experiences such as projects, gigs, and mentorships. Companies that implement AI-powered talent marketplaces can match people to opportunities based on the skills they have and the knowledge they wish to develop,  in turn facilitating seamless knowledge sharing and unlimited access to hands-on skill-building experiences. 

If you’re looking for more expert insights that will foreshadow the skills transformation changes coming your way next, check out our guide featuring future of work predictions from Arianna Huffington, Al Gore, and Josh Bersin.