Your workplace has seen some massive changes in the last 20 years. Cubicles turned into open plan offices, then into everyone’s spare bedroom or kitchen table when the pandemic hit. Important communication came through phone lines, then faxes, then email, then Teams and Slack messages.

Leaving the office at 5 p.m. was once all you needed to do to disconnect from work, while now you’re bombarded by notifications after hours unless you turn your phone off.

2025 brings its own host of workplace challenges that will force similar changes. Some are completely new, while others are the result of earlier trends stabilizing and maturing. Your HR team will have to lead the way in navigating these challenges throughout the year.

Here’s your guide to doing that.

Key takeaways:

• AI and automation will bring increased productivity, but organizations still struggle to deploy them at scale.
• Remote and hybrid work are the new normal, bringing employee engagement and company culture challenges.
• An increased reliance on digital communication channels can create excess noise and tank productivity.
• Despite declining investments in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs, challenges in this area are increasing in 2025.
• Ethical challenges and regulations will get more complex, making compliance more challenging.

The impact of AI and automation on jobs

Since ChatGPT launched to the public in late 2022, AI has become a massive industry, with a market size of $279.22 billion in 2024 according to Grand View Research data. Implementing AI has also become a top priority for organizations worldwide, with nearly half of U.S. organizations having started this work in 2025, according to Gallup.

Despite the emphasis on AI adoption, most organizations haven’t made much real progress. 67% of employees say they never use AI, and 75% believed AI would reduce the total number of jobs available in the U.S. in 2023—a significant barrier to adoption.

Leaders face multiple workplace challenges with AI. They need to stay ahead of a technology that seems to change drastically every month. They need to upskill their workforce to use this technology appropriately. And they need to do all this while reassuring their employees that no one will lose their job just because they implement AI tools.

How to stay ahead of this challenge

• Reskill and upskill employees: Eliminating routine, administrative tasks with AI and automation allows employees to refocus their energy towards essential work that can’t be automated. You can support this shift through reskilling and upskilling.
• Reinforce the value of each employee: AI brings a fear of being made redundant, and your messaging around these tools needs to combat this. Reassure employees that their contributions are valuable and irreplaceable as you encourage them to adopt AI.
• Fully implement AI tools before testing new ones: Many organizations, in their rush to get ahead of the AI trend, have adopted a number of tools that, months later, aren’t being used. Before adopting a new tool, make sure you’ve fully rolled out existing tools, so you’re actually getting a return on your investment.

Remote and hybrid work fatigue

In 2020, every company that could switch to full remote work did. Tools like Zoom, Slack, and Miro were instantly and widely adopted by thousands of organizations that might never have even considered them before. Opinion pieces from leaders in tech and similar industries claimed that remote work was the future of work, and many claimed they’d never go back to the office.

But what does this actually look like in 2025? Hybrid work is far more common than fully remote work, and it’s even outpaced fully on-site models. According to Gallup, 52% of employees with remote-capable jobs are hybrid employees, with only 27% being fully remote and 21% being in the office full-time.

Remote work, even if only a few days a week, creates real wins for both employees and organizations. Flexible work schedules and locations give people better work-life balance, give you access to a bigger talent pool, and open up completely new opportunities for collaboration.

Sure, there are adjustments to make. You might commute to the office only to join a meeting where everyone else is working remotely. Managers sometimes find it takes more intention to stay connected with their teams.

The key is having the right approach. When companies set up remote and hybrid work thoughtfully, they build a stronger company culture, boost employee engagement, and make onboarding new employees more effective than ever.

Read the full article here: