With 2026 around the corner, HR is evolving at a rapid pace, and this trend is undoubtedly continuing. The rapid evolution of technology has significantly impacted many industries, including HR, where trends are increasingly focused on AI.
These trends that are sure to define what 2026 will look like portray a realistic picture of just what is becoming more and more important to the companies as well as employees. It is not just about technology anymore, as employees start to prioritise a company’s culture just as much as compensation and benefits.
1. Return-to-Office
Though COVID-19 is thankfully mostly a thing of the past, the impact of the policies enacted during the lockdown period continues to shape how the workforce looks today. Before the pandemic, working from home was far from common, but it certainly became a norm and a necessity during the pandemic.
Now, though, companies across the world are asking employees to come back to the office, at least partially. In early 2025, Infosys mandated its employees to come to the office at least 10 days a month. Similarly, Flipkart has started calling all of its employees back to the office for every day of the week.
The policies instated by the companies highlight a shift back to working from the office. Though most companies have opted for a hybrid approach, asking employees to come to the office for a certain number of days in a week or a month, the fact remains that offices are filling up and filling fast.
2. AI-led Restructuring
With its diverse set of solutions and highly effective automation, AI has changed the way many companies envision their organisational structure. The wave of restructuring in the light of AI capabilities is one that cannot be ignored and will likely continue to grow in 2025.
In July 2025, Tata Consultancy Services announced that it would be laying off 12,000 of its employees. While CEO TCS CEO K Krithivasan told Moneycontrol that AI will not be replacing people, he admitted that AI is indeed changing how the workforce operates.
“We have been calling out new technologies, particularly AI and operating model changes. The ways of working are changing. We need to be future-ready and agile. We have been deploying AI at scale and evaluating skills we will be requiring for the future,” the CEO highlighted.
Amazon followed suit by announcing its plans to reduce its workforce by 14,000, out of which about 800-1,000 will be from India. This trend is likely to continue as many other companies, both big and small, look to restructure their workforce around AI.
3. AI-Based Positions
With AI becoming more and more prominent, a new wave of positions has emerged centred solely around the industry. AI experts and prompt engineers are becoming more and more common across industries.
It is now not just about people learning about AI to enhance their current roles. For many, AI has become their area of expertise thanks to roles centred only around its usage. Many companies have even taken to appointing Chief AI Officers, a role on par with other CXO positions, to highlight the importance of AI within the existing workforce dynamics.
Ultimately, AI is becoming an industry of its own that HR cannot ignore. They provide solutions that are in demand and insights that can help companies remain in step with the ever-changing world.
4. Personalised Learning
According to edForce’s Future-Proofing India’s IT Workforce report, 66% of industry leaders and key decision-makers in India prefer personalised learning paths.
The time of one path for all is now a thing of the past when it comes to learning. With the knowledge of the world at one’s fingertips and easily available AI-based learning solutions, employees and other learners can create a unique learning path for themselves.
Through these personalised learning paths, both employees and companies benefit by creating a skillset that is unique and ideally suited to the needs of the person in question. Interestingly, many employees are eager to utilise AI to learn more about it, ultimately to ensure that their skill sets do not become obsolete.
Personalised learning paths have, in fact, become critical to make sure that employees are able to reskill and upskill as per the demands of the industry, as well as their own goals.
5. CHROs Taking the Lead
With the ever-increasing importance of people and culture in companies, CHROs are taking more and more of a leading role within companies. Rather than supporting companies from the back in an administrative capacity, CHROs are becoming the face of companies and what they stand for.
In Korn Ferry’s 2025 CHRO survey, 61% of CHROs stated their CEO frequently relies on them for strategic advice on key business issues. As per the report, CHROs spend 33% of their time advising the CEO/leadership and another 30% leading company-wide transformation efforts.
The numbers indicate the growing importance of CHROs as a business driver. From acquiring the right talent to portraying the perfect employer brand and cultivating a positive workforce culture, CHROs certainly are not short of responsibilities in today’s day and age.
6. Contractual Workforce Planning
Workforce planning is shifting focus from headcount, titles, and cost to the skills of the employees. Companies today are becoming increasingly open to the idea of gig workers and contractual hires, rather than relying on traditional full-time hires.
Gig workers are, in fact, becoming increasingly commonplace in the delivery and logistics industry. Applications like Ola, Uber, and Rapido offer highly flexible schedules, paving the way for workers to provide their services.
The increase in gig work and contractual jobs can indeed be attributed to increasing technology adoption. Mobile applications allow gig providers and workers to seamlessly connect and exchange information, creating a dynamic workforce that focuses more on job completion than full-time workplace presence.
7. Technostress in the Workplace
Technostress refers to one’s inability to cope with evolving modern technologies. Termed as a modern disease, it is considered a deterrent to mental health as employees find themselves struggling to keep up with everything new that comes their way.
The increasing wave of AI has certainly increased the mental health strain on many employees who feel that their jobs might be at risk. The feeling of being obsolete and being replaced by software is one that has made many fear what the future has in store for them.
The wave of layoffs, especially in the IT industry, seems to have only exacerbated Technostress, with many scrambling to reskill, upskill, and even protest to tackle the wave of new technology.
8. AI-Backed HR Modernisation
As the workforce is evolving with AI, so is the way that HR functions. From using automation tools to speed up administrative tasks to gathering critical people insights, AI is transforming HR as you know it.
Though the use of AI in areas apart from recruitment still remains somewhat low, there is no doubt that AI is surely going to become more and more common in all areas of HR. Already, 46% of companies are using AI to create personalised training plans to drive upskilling, as per a report by ETHRWorld and edForce.
As per Academy to Innovate HR (AIHR), less than 15% apply AI in areas like performance management, development, or onboarding. However, the numbers are likely to increase as AI becomes more and more prevalent.
9. AI Fluency
Being fluent in AI is becoming a necessity for HR for multiple reasons. The primary reason, as one might suspect, is to be able to effectively use the AI tools available to HR professionals. After all, any tool, no matter its capabilities, is only as good as its user.
As per AIHR, only 35% of HR professionals currently feel equipped to use AI. Though this gap is far from ideal, it is also something that HR professionals are seemingly well aware of and are trying to rectify.
About 38% of professionals are upskilling themselves through self-exploration of AI tools, 24% are using online resources, and 22% opting for vendor and training courses. In other words, though the majority of HR professionals still do not feel confident in their AI knowledge, they are taking active steps to become fluent in the language of the modern workplace.
10. Human Touch in the AI World
As AI becomes increasingly dominant in all fields, including HR, the importance of human presence has become more vital than ever. While learning about AI and utilising it to its fullest potential is indeed an efficient way of thinking, it cannot and should not replace the human touch in HR operations.
In other words, as AI usage is increasing, so is the demand for soft skills in HR professionals and beyond. Recruiters and leaders are now focusing on just how their employees can make the work more human and unique. How can they stand out and provide a creative perspective?
In today’s world, where AI is increasing its presence, human touch is becoming more vital than ever. Companies have stopped prioritising technical skills over people presence, believing the latter to be the core of what can help them stand out in a sea of products, companies, and offerings.
In the End…
Like many industries, HR in 2026 will be impacted by AI and its many capabilities. At the same time, the human presence is becoming more important than ever. Even as companies plan for layoffs, the remaining employees are being encouraged to come to the office.
Reskilling and upskilling have become the need of the hour for many, irrespective of the industry. To research and know just how AI is impacting one’s job can help employees stay one step ahead and carve a new, more skill-based path for themselves.
