Several trends, including artificial intelligence integration, skills gap, investment and commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, are impacting organizations’ talent strategies, according to Randstad’s 2024 Talent Trends report.

“We are now in an age in which artificial and human intelligence can together achieve an optimized workforce unlike any before it,” Mike Smith, CEO of Randstad Enterprise, said in a press statement. “Innovation, ideation and productivity have never been more accessible. But the questions business leaders are asking are: Can we unlock human potential further with AI empowerment? And how?”

Randstad’s top trends for talent leaders include:

Urgent need for AI adoption. While talent leaders voice some concerns around AI, like a reduced human touch in the workplace (34%) and the risk of amplifying bias or using technology irresponsibly (32%), the benefits outweigh the risks. Overall, 78% said AI can effectively identify opportunities for internal mobility. In comparison, 78% also believe AI is capable of finding needs and gaps within their workforce — a crucial advantage in a highly competitive talent landscape and when transforming to be a skills-based organization. 

Maintaining focus on DE&I. Recent pushback, including legal rulings in the US, has added new levels of adversity against DE&I efforts, with 15% of talent leaders already citing this as a concern and one in 10 saying they will decrease their focus on DE&I initiatives. However, 48% said they will improve or expand their DE&I initiatives. 

Skills gap widens. Nearly three-fourths of leaders, 72%, report an increasing skills gap, which poses substantial challenges to organizational growth. Notably, this is the highest score since before the pandemic in 2019, highlighting the importance of rethinking how employers attract and evaluate job candidates, train and develop employees, and source skills into the organization. 

The rise of skills-based organizations. With 80% of companies moving toward a skills-based model, there’s a clear focus on developing a more adaptable and resilient workforce. This approach is seen as pivotal in combating talent scarcity and fostering a culture of continuous learning and development.

Cultural shift toward learning and empowerment. The report emphasizes the necessity of building cultures that prioritize learning, adaptability and employee empowerment. Twenty-five percent of human capital leaders want to invest more in how they articulate strong company values and their value proposition to employees. By doing so, cultivating a motivating environment is key to unlocking human potential and driving organizational success.

Strategic investment in human capital leaders. The evolving role of human capital leaders is spotlighted, underscoring their influence in steering organizations to prepare for the future (90%) by leveraging technology, data and a people-centric approach. However, 64% report that they’re being asked to do so with fewer resources.

Randstad surveyed 1,000 C-suite and human capital leaders across 21 global markets for the report.