CHROs may want to brace themselves for a challenging environment heading into 2025, as a number of trends will continue to unfold in the New Year that will test their HR leadership skills, experts say.

From demands for transformation and the integration of AI to evolving landscapes for hiring and DEI, HR leaders will face an environment rife with change and uncertainty, says Diana Scott, U.S. human capital center leader for The Conference Board. (Scott recently sat down with HR Executive for a video interview on HR leadership trends in 2025. Click here to view the video.)

In the backdrop exists an environment where domestic and global conflict are on the rise, along with economic uncertainty, and organizations continue to grapple with new ways of working and persistent change fatigue, adds Brad Bell, director of the Center for Advanced Human Resource Studies and a strategic HR professor at Cornell University. Both experts say HR leaders can respond to these challenges by leaning into a strategy that is closely aligned with business objectives, an approach that will emphasize the increasingly critical nature of the HR function to the business.