Waves of change are expected to wash over workplaces in the new year, highlighted by companies’ needs to balance the influx of artificial intelligence (AI) with the skills, capabilities, and perspectives that are uniquely human, according to a study from Top Employers Institute.
According to the Amsterdam-based human resources (HR) consulting firm, 2025 will be the year that the balance between individual and group well-being will evolve, blending personal empowerment with collective goals. The focus will be on creating environments where individual contributions enhance the overall strength of teams and organizations, and where traditional boundaries are softened to allow for greater collaboration and inclusion.
Those were the findings of the group’s report titled "World of work trends 2025: The collective workforce.” The study was based on data drawn from the anonymized responses of 2,175 global participants of the Top Employers Institute’s HR Best Practices Survey for 2025, and 2,200 organizations from its 2024 edition.
To cope with those broad trends, the report found that companies must adopt “systems thinking,” a way of understanding how different parts of a system—whether an organization or a society—are connected and influence each other. Leaders who learn that skill can design holistic strategies that align employee needs with organizational priorities and broader societal challenges, the group said.
Toward that goal, the report highlights five trends that are reshaping and impacting the global workforce for 2025. They include:
Sustainable Workplaces - integrated partnership between society and organizations.
In 2025, organizations will face growing pressure to address global challenges ranging from ethical AI use in the workplace to demographic changes like declining birth rates and an aging population. These issues are no longer isolated from business; they demand an integrated partnership between society and organizations. For example, labor shortages driven by demographic changes challenge companies to rethink their workforce strategies for future sustainability; for example, family-friendly offerings have increased substantially over the last year as employers acknowledge the reality that many more people are now responsible for aging relatives as well as young children.
New belonging – networking beyond to connect with various jobs, industries, and networks.
Unlike previous generations, today’s employees change jobs and careers with greater fluidity, spanning multiple organizations over relatively short periods. This shift is reshaping the traditional, company-centered sense of belonging into a more dynamic, interconnected experience. Employees no longer expect to build lasting relationships solely within a single organization, but rather they form communities that stretch across various jobs, industries, and networks, sometimes even in public coworking spaces where the people they interact with daily may not even work for the same company. However, this fluidity offers companies a unique advantage: as employees move between organizations and interact with diverse professionals in shared spaces, they bring with them fresh ideas, innovations, and relationships that generate significant value.
Transforming experiences – “new collar” jobs.
In 2025, we will see a substantial blurring of the traditional categories of “white collar” jobs—typically clerical, administrative, managerial, and executive roles—and “blue collar” jobs, which are typically found in the agriculture, manufacturing, construction, mining, or maintenance sectors. The nature of jobs once considered blue-collar has changed dramatically, thanks in no small part to advancements in technology, especially AI. Post pandemic, there seems to be a much higher demand in many places around the world for skilled trades and manual labor, coupled with a growing emphasis for needed skills over formal qualifications. This shift, sometimes described as the rise of “new collar” jobs, combines the technical expertise often associated with blue-collar work with the adaptability and digital skills needed in today’s job market.
Neuroinclusion - a competitive advantage.
Organizations are also increasingly recognizing the advantages of including neurodivergent individuals in the workplace, hiring people with autism, dyslexia, dyspraxia, dyscalculia, and ADHD, as well as certain mental health conditions. In addition to bringing bringing unique perspectives and capabilities, these employees are also an important part of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI). This practice often requires companies to provide accommodation, adjustments, and support, but 2025 will bring a more radical shift, as neuroinclusivity is evolving from an afterthought to a foundational principle in workplace design, culture, and HR policies.
AI-powered leadership - balance between human intuition and AI’s analytical power.
If 2024 marked AI’s disruption of highly skilled roles like software development and healthcare, 2025 will be the year AI reshapes the highest levels of leadership, bringing a new balance between human intuition and AI’s analytical power. In this evolving landscape, leadership is no longer an individual pursuit, but a collective effort changed by intelligent systems. AI is not just influencing mid-level roles; it is becoming a partner in the C-suite, helping leaders navigate complexity, understand team dynamics, and make strategic decisions that benefit the entire organization.
