The HR Trends Set to Define 2026: The Complete Ranking

What are the key developments expected to shape HR in 2026, and which initiatives are likely to be most widely adopted by HR professionals?

To answer this question, we analyzed HR trend forecasts for 2026 from eleven authoritative sources and compiled a ranking of the most frequently cited trends.

Several HR trends carry over from 2025. Artificial intelligence in people management remains a central topic, although the experimental phase is largely over and organizations are now expected to move into full-scale adoption. Employee wellbeing continues to receive significant attention, alongside a growing focus on skills, now widely recognized as a company’s primary value driver.

One notable absence from this year’s ranking is Gen Z. After years of discussion, the generation is now firmly established in the workforce, without causing the level of disruption that was once expected.

Below is the complete ranking of HR trends for 2026, including the number of articles that mentioned each trend.

Enjoy the read.

The Top HR Trends for 2026

1. Skill-based everything (9)

In 2026, skill-based approaches will extend well beyond recruiting and hiring. The entire people management lifecycle — including task assignment and workload distribution — will increasingly be based on skills and potential rather than formal credentials.

This shift allows companies to identify and develop critical capabilities more quickly, support internal mobility and promotions, and make better use of individual strengths. To fully support a skill-based model, organizations will need digital platforms that integrate recruiting, learning, performance management, and development into a single environment where skills are treated as a core business asset. By following this HR trend in 2026, organizations can become more flexible and merit-driven.

2. AI reaches maturity in HR (8)

Investment in artificial intelligence continues to grow across HR, with solutions now available for most areas of people management. By 2026, AI is expected to move beyond experimentation and into a strategic phase, increasingly acting as a co-pilot for HR leadership. When defining AI’s role in people management, several principles should guide adoption:

People must remain at the center
Organization-wide upskilling is essential to fully benefit from AI
Human touch remains critical in many processes
Ethical oversight and clear governance are required

3. Integrated and preventive wellbeing (7)

Employee wellbeing has been at the center of HR discussions for several years. Over time, the concept has expanded beyond physical health to include mental, financial, and social wellbeing. In 2026, a total wellbeing approach will continue to be a powerful tool for attraction and retention, particularly when it also strengthens a sense of belonging and supports distributed work models. New technologies are also enabling a more preventive approach, helping organizations prevent burnout and build greater resilience.

4. Personalized employee experience (7)

By 2026, companies will have access to the technology needed to design seamless, tailored employee experiences. Personalization can apply across a wide range of areas, from benefits and learning opportunities to career paths and the development of unique skill sets. Designing these experiences will require close collaboration between HR, IT, and internal communications teams. At the same time, companies need to remain authentic when communicating their Employee Value Proposition (EVP) as inconsistencies are quickly noticed.

5. DEI continues to evolve (6)

Diversity, equity, and inclusion will remain relevant in 2026, while taking on broader and more complex implications. Beyond implementing concrete DEI initiatives, organizations will be expected to address the balance between innovation and responsibility, including ethical and governance considerations. This includes regulating AI use through clear policies, assessing the impact of bias, and adopting socially responsible practices. Companies will also need to measure results and ensure consistency between stated values and actual practices, both internally and across partners and suppliers.

6. Fluid work organization (6)

While some articles point to mandated returns to the office at certain multinational companies, the broader reality is that HR leaders will continue to manage hybrid work environments. This goes beyond the coexistence of in-office and remote employees. Freelancers, gig economy workers, and AI agents are increasingly working alongside traditional employees. This requires greater flexibility, but also shared rules, and digital platforms that allow everyone to collaborate effectively.

7. A new strategic role for HR leaders (6)

Over time, HR has taken on a more central role in business strategy, although in Italy progress remains uneven, particularly among small and mid-sized companies. The growing adoption of AI is accelerating this shift. As AI raises both technological and organizational questions, HR leaders are increasingly expected to play a strategic role given its impact on people and work design. More broadly, HR is positioned to become a driver of organizational change. Companies that place HR at the center of cultural transformation will be more innovative and better equipped to withstand disruption.

8. Continuous learning (5)

Companies have increasingly recognized continuous learning as the most effective way to develop employee skills. Long, stand-alone training sessions are being replaced by approaches that embed learning into everyday work. To support this shift, HR teams should:

Provide upskilling and reskilling tools
Use microlearning formats
Make career paths and internal mobility opportunities transparent, encouraging employees to invest in their own development.

AI also plays a role, enabling more personalized learning paths while automating routine tasks and freeing up time for learning.

9. Holistic and distributed leadership (5)

In 2026, organizations that are more technology-driven and less hierarchical will rely less on traditional command-and-control leadership and more on distributed leadership models. Leaders will need to operate effectively in complex, fast-changing environments, focusing on individuals as a whole and acting more as facilitators than commanders. Trust, informal communication, and strong relationships will be essential. At the same time, hiring freezes affecting younger workers — often replaced by AI — risk weakening leadership pipelines. HR will need to rethink how future leaders are identified and developed.

10. The role of soft skills in the age of AI (3)

Somewhat paradoxically, the spread of artificial intelligence in the workplace is actually increasing the value of distinctly human skills. In a market crowded with new products and services, these skills are increasingly seen as a company’s true point of differentiation. To get the most out of new technologies and fully realize their potential, employees will need to rely on a combination of emotional intelligence and digital skills. It will be up to HR to create the right environment and the right learning opportunities for these capabilities to develop and thrive.

11. Predictive and strategic HR analytics (3)

Data analysis and HR analytics appear less frequently in forecasts for HR trends in 2026 than in previous years. This is likely because these tools have become part of day-to-day HR practice, particularly in large organizations. Thanks to the predictive capabilities of AI-based systems, these tools are expected to play an increasingly strategic role in guiding business decisions.

12. Transparency, communication, and feedback (3)

One of the simpler—but no less critical—HR trends for 2026 is a renewed focus on transparent communication and active listening. Business decisions will need to be clearly and carefully explained, while employees should be kept informed about both progress and challenges through appropriate channels. Feedback collection will also become more frequent, moving beyond traditional surveys to include continuous listening systems that capture real-time input.

13. AI fluency (2)

Promoting widespread AI fluency across the organization should be one of HR’s priorities in 2026. Employees at all levels should have the knowledge needed to use AI effectively, while avoiding errors, bias, and hallucinations. Today, most AI learning initiatives are informal and self-directed. HR teams will need to introduce more structured programs to ensure AI tools are used safely and productively.

14. Return to office (2)

Media coverage continues to focus on large companies, particularly US multinationals, requiring employees to return to the office on a regular basis. In Italy, however, hybrid and remote work show no clear signs of decline according to recent data from the Politecnico di Milano’s Smart Working Observatory.

15. Technostress e FOBO (2)

The disruptive impact of AI on the workplace has heightened anxiety, especially as media coverage focuses on major layoffs in the US tech sector. Rapid technological change is increasing stress among workers who fear becoming obsolete or replaced by machines (FOBO, or Fear of Becoming Obsolete). In 2026, HR departments will need to address these concerns directly by building trust to encourage experimentation, while also offering training, upskilling, and reskilling initiatives that help employees update and expand their skills.