Four-day workweeks and the need for conflict resolution rank among the workplace trends that chief human resources officers will need to address this year, Gartner said.

“We have seen several shifts affecting the workplace, including the emergence of generative AI, pilots around establishing a four-day workweek and changes to traditional careers,” Emily Rose McRae, senior director analyst at Gartner HR practice. “This year’s predictions highlight the aspects of work that HR leaders must prioritize over the next 12 months.”

The predictions include: 

The cost-of-work crisis. Employees have been saving the costs of going into the office daily thanks to remote work, Gartner said. In 2024, organizations looking to attract and retain talent will not just try to find the perfect hybrid strategy but will look to tackle the cost of work head on by sharing the tangible and intangible costs of returning to the office or by finding ways to reduce those costs. These might include caregiving benefits and housing subsidies.

Generative AI. Generative AI experiments will yield hard lessons and painful costs, according to the report. Enthusiasm, hype and a strong fear of missing out or being left behind are driving executives to push for the implementation of generative AI within their teams and organizations. Companies will need to manage the risks of generative AI actively.

However, generative AI is expected to create opportunity rather than diminish it. Business leaders should partner with HR to assess how generative AI investments should change their teams’ roles and workflows and how to identify potential internal candidates for newly redesigned roles.

Four-day workweeks. The four-day workweek has become a centerpiece of large-scale studies in performance, union negotiations and the preferences of many workers, Gartner said. Embracing a four-day work week will require organizations to rethink the cadence of the work week and re-examine what is necessary to get work done.

Conflict resolution skills. Conflicts between employees are poised to be at an all-time high in 2024 due to geopolitical crises, labor strikes, climate change, pushback to DE&I efforts and upcoming elections for half of the globe. “Managers who can effectively navigate and manage interpersonal conflict among employees will have an outsize positive impact on their organizations; the question is how many really feel trained and prepared to do so,” said Peter Aykens, chief of research at Gartner’s HR practice.  

Skills over degrees. College degrees are the top requirement of yesterday’s job descriptions. Organizations today are increasingly embracing skills-based hiring, even for some corporate jobs long considered degree-dependent, Gartner said.

Climate change protection. In 2024 and beyond, organizations will begin to highlight and promote direct climate change protections as a key part of their benefit offerings.

DE&I. There has been a growing sense of disillusionment with DE&I over the past few years, Gartner said. In the US, there’s even a sense of direct pushback. However, the critical need for diverse, equitable and inclusive workforces remains, leaving organizations uncertain about what to do next.

Career stereotypes. The traditional career path where employees rise up the ranks and retire at the peak of their careers is going away. Employers will break the career continuity stereotype by offering job sharing, gig work or reduced hours to provide greater flexibility.