What Does 2026 Have In Store For HR?
As 2026 approaches, the world of work feels suspended between acceleration and exhaustion. AI is racing ahead. Regulation is shifting under our feet. Employees are speaking up in ways we haven’t seen for a decade.
And through it all, HR is being asked to hold the centre while everything else moves. With this in mind, we’re looking ahead to see what’s in store for 2026.
AI Grows Up
By 2026, AI will no longer feel experimental. It will be embedded in everyday work. And as it becomes more capable, the questions grow louder: Will my job change? Can I trust these tools?
This makes “humans first” less of a value statement and more of a survival strategy. HR will need clear, credible AI policies on how AI is used, who is accountable and where its limits are. People won’t accept quiet adoption. They’ll demand transparency. AI may be the most powerful tool we’ve ever had in recent years, but without trust, it will be the most disruptive.
The Employment Rights Bill: A Year of Guesswork and a Busy 2026
If AI has created uncertainty, the Employment Rights Bill has doubled it. 2025 has, at times, felt like a year of guesswork, with rolling updates landing faster than anyone could meaningfully interpret them. Day-one entitlements, a newly announced six-month unfair dismissal qualifying period, changes to zero-hours rules, and a fire-and-rehire ban. While the Bill is yet to pass, HR teams are scrambling to figure out what any of it actually means.
What we do know is that 2026 will be intense. The April and October rollouts will demand rapid policy rewrites, manager retraining and far more scrutiny of decisions.
A Louder Employee Voice
Union activity is rising in sectors that once seemed unreachable—tech, creative industries, logistics, and retail. This isn’t about conflict; it’s about influence. People want a say in their working lives, especially as AI becomes more present and workloads continue to climb. In fact, our November HR Clinic focused on this issue in detail, and you can watch it here …
Even outside unionised spaces, employees want to be involved, not informed after the fact.
Reasonable Adjustments Become the Norm
One of the most profound shifts heading into 2026 is the evolution of reasonable adjustments. Workplaces are moving past the idea of adjustments as exceptions. Instead, they’re becoming a baseline expectation, reflecting a better understanding of neurodiversity, mental health, chronic conditions and burnout. In 2026, employers will be expected to anticipate needs, not wait to be asked.
2026 is shaping up to be a year where HR will be expected to navigate complexity with clarity. AI will keep pushing us into new territory. Legislation will demand faster, sharper responses. Employee expectations will continue to rise. But the common thread across all these shifts is simple: people want work to feel fair.
The organisations that thrive in 2026 won’t be the ones that move fastest, but the ones that move most intentionally. The year ahead will be about shaping the world of work, and HR sits right in the middle of it all.