2023-2024 SHRM State of the Workplace
This year’s State of the Workplace report hones in on the major issues organizations faced in 2023 and what they foresee looking ahead into 2024. Integrating the perspectives of HR professionals, HR executives and U.S. workers, it addresses inflation, labor shortages, the state of HR departments and organizations’ adoption of AI.
The 2023-24 snapshot of where workplaces are now and where they plan to go shows continuing concern over the effects of inflation and difficulties in recruiting well-qualified talent. Yet, facing largely stagnant budgets and headcounts in 2024, many organizations are planning to direct more resources toward developing and supporting their current workforce rather than toward attracting new hires.
HR departments are judiciously testing the AI waters, with a quarter currently using AI applications for specific purposes such as recruitment and employee professional development. Plans for 2024 reveal steady AI adoption in more organizations, but in general, this area is taking a backseat to other, more urgent priorities. HR professionals continue to express positive attitudes toward their workplace. Yet many are working beyond capacity and without sufficient staff for the workload, leading more HR employees than non-HR employees to seek positions in other organizations.
An organization run by AI is not a futuristic concept. Such technology is already a part of many workplaces and will continue to shape the labor market and HR. Here's how employers and employees can successfully manage generative AI and other AI-powered systems.