Gartner Announces Top Trends Shaping HR Priorities in Australia in 2026

SYDNEY, Australia, November 17, 2025 - Gartner, Inc., a business and technology insights company, has identified the top four trends shaping the Australian workforce that HR leaders must navigate in 2026. 

Speaking at Gartner HR Symposium/Xpo in Sydney today, Aaron McEwan, Vice President, Advisory in the Gartner HR practice, said, "HR leaders will be challenged next year as they navigate AI's fast changing impact on the business and HR, while also supporting CEO growth ambitions and meeting higher expectations for employee performance. This does provide a good opportunity to reset priorities, make decisions that benefit their organizations and develop skills needed for teams to succeed."

According to Gartner, HR leaders must understand how the following trends will shape their priorities and strategies in 2026 and beyond (see Figure 1). 

Figure 1: Top Trends Impacting Chief HR Officers in 2026

Source: Gartner (November 2025)

Trend 1: AI Triggers Questions About the Future of HR
As AI adoption rapidly accelerates within organizations, HR leaders recognize that using AI is no longer optional. Gartner predicts 50% of current HR tasks will be automated or managed by AI agents by 2030, fundamentally transforming HR's work, roles and workflows. In addition, Gartner surveys of 197 HR leaders in June 2023 and January 2025 revealed the number of organizations piloting and implementing generative AI has surged from 19% to 61% in just two years. 

"The rapid adoption of AI is raising a variety of questions for different stakeholders related to the future of the HR function," said McEwan. "CEOs want to know how AI will change HR's role in supporting growth; CHROs are thinking about how AI can handle operational work so HR can focus on strategy; and CFOs are looking at how AI can save costs by reducing HR headcount."

To harness AI's potential, HR leaders must create a clear roadmap for an AI-infused HR operating model. While most organizations develop a centralized AI strategy, HR leaders must also develop an HR-specific approach. By reimagining work, processes and talent, they can unlock new strategic capabilities and realize the full value of AI in HR.

Trend 2: AI is Seen as a Viable Alternative to Human Talent
A July 2025 Gartner survey of 114 HR leaders found that 27% of organizations have redefined job roles or skills due to AI or emerging technologies in the past 12 months; 24% have redeployed employees to new roles due to technology related redundancy; and 10% have replaced some employees with AI or automation. 

"Many CEOs are focused on using AI to lower costs and are shifting investments from people to technology, sometimes overestimating AI's ability to fully replace human contributions," said McEwan. "This puts pressure on organizations to rethink how work gets done. CHROs must build alignment with executives on how AI and humans can work together and be ready to support different scenarios depending on how and where the technology is deployed."

Gartner recommends CHROs adopt a "now-next" talent strategy that maximizes current talent over the next 12 months, while also planning actions to achieve better future outcomes as AI continues to evolve.

Trend 3: Organizations Walk a Growth-Efficiency Tightrope
Organizations today must balance long-term growth investments with short-term cost constraints to achieve strategic goals. This balancing act creates added challenges for CHROs, who must also help leaders navigate constant change. A July 2025 Gartner survey of 140 CHROs revealed 64% believe their leaders and managers do not have the mindset to lead change effectively. 

"Growth has always been a corporate goal, but today it's about balancing growth and efficiency at the same time," said McEwan. "Effective leadership today means treating change as a routine business process, not just an occasional event." 

Gartner recommends CHROs encourage leaders to guide employees through the change journey and reset expectations about their role. In addition, HR must enable leaders to build employee change reflexes by identifying core skills, practicing them in daily work and encouraging commitment to continuous improvement.

Trend 4: The Employment Deal Shifts to "Give More, Expect Less"
As organizations increase their focus on growth, transformation and productivity, the employment deal has shifted toward higher expectations for employee time and effort, with less support provided. This means longer workdays, heavier workloads and a greater volume of change, with reduced flexibility, lower investment in people and culture, and decreased job security.

According to a July 2025 Gartner survey of 222 CHROs, CEOs are relying on CHROs to foster a productive, engaged and skilled workforce, yet only 47% of CHROs say their culture currently drives employee performance. 

"CHROs must navigate changing employee sentiment around these new expectations and create an employee value proposition (EVP) that attracts, develops and retains the right talent," said McEwan.

Gartner clients can learn more in Leadership Vision for 2026: Chief HR Officers.

About Gartner HR Symposium/XpGartner HR Symposium/Xpo is where CHROs and their leadership teams gather each year to reimagine their strategies through the lens of Gartner's research-driven insights and expert advice on leadership and learning, employee experience, culture and change, talent acquisition and workforce planning, and HR technology. Gartner HR Symposium/Xpo is taking place this week in Sydney, November 17-18. Follow news and updates on LinkedIn using #GartnerHR.

About Gartner for HR Leaders
The Gartner HR practice brings together the best business and technology insights across Gartner to offer individual decision makers strategic business advice on the mission-critical priorities that cut across the HR function. Additional information is available at http://www.gartner.com/en/human-resources/human-resources-leaders. Follow news and updates from the Gartner HR practice on X and LinkedIn using #GartnerHR.

About Gartner
Gartner (NYSE: IT) delivers actionable, objective business and technology insights that drive smarter decisions and stronger performance on an organization's mission-critical priorities. To learn more visit gartner.com.