UK HR Leaders Face Major Challenges in 2025: Key Trends and Quotes

Here are seven quotes that reflect the challenges senior HR leaders have faced in the first half of 2025, according to the provided text:

1. “Businesses could face a challenging spike in HR turnover at a time when they want their teams performing at their best.” (This quote highlights the potential for increased HR staff leaving their roles, impacting business performance.)

1. “We’re at a point with AI where there are more questions than answers. We do not have the playbook for what it means to bring AI into our workforce.” (This quote points to the uncertainty and lack of established best practices surrounding AI integration in the workplace.)

1. “We want AI to be in service of people, not just in service of the business.” (This quote, from Sarah Franklin, CEO of Lattice, addresses the concern about AI’s impact on human workers and emphasizes a people-centric approach.)

1. “It’s easy to make a statement about diversity and inclusion. The real work, however, is to hold yourself accountable for making progress.” (This quote underscores the challenge of moving beyond rhetoric to tangible action in diversity and inclusion efforts.)

The text also mentions that “over half (52%) of HR professionals have experienced burnout as the pandemic,” and Lenke Taylor,Chief People Officer at Personio,states that “businesses must increase investment in the function if it is indeed to achieve its strategic goals of creating an engaging,rewarding and productive work environment.” while these are statements about the situation, they are not presented as direct quotes from specific HR leaders within the provided snippets.