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1 2025: The Year of the “Superworker”?
"Everyone has suddenly been given a superpower—and it’s up to us to decide how to use it. This isn’t the next stage of a Marvel or DC superhero film; it’s a metaphor for what’s unfolding in workplaces worldwide due to AI. What started as modest productivity improvements is now transforming into entirely new ways of working, shifting from automating routine tasks to generating autonomous, data-driven solutions of its own design.
“In the future, we may not even notice our AI companions—they’ll simply blend into our workflows. But during this critical transitional period, HR must lead the charge, preparing organizations and teams for the significant productivity revolution ahead. Starting in 2025, we can expect a wave of ‘robot buddies’ working tirelessly alongside us to enhance efficiency and impact.
“This shift will begin, perhaps surprisingly, in HR. AI is already reshaping Talent Acquisition—analyzing job requirements, sourcing candidates, comparing skills, and assessing cultural fit. In many cases, HR teams are merely refining AI-generated shortlists, exemplifying the Superworking era we at The Josh Bersin Company predict will become the new norm in the coming year.
“Simultaneously, AI will drive a major shift toward what we call ‘productivity-based organizational design,’ where jobs and roles are restructured to leverage the growing capabilities of AI platforms. The rapid rise of multifunctional agents underscores this shift, making job redesign the top trend to watch.”
2 More and More AI ROI Will Surface
“Our analysis, drawn from millions of talent intelligence data points, insights from tech clients, and countless corporate use cases, highlights why AI is transformative: it saves time by automating tasks like emails and meeting summaries, boosting productivity by 30%. In sectors like customer service, retail, and hospitality, human-AI collaboration consistently doubles productivity, achieving 100% gains. Early evidence suggests that human-Agentic AI teamwork—leveraging AI’s rapid data analysis and decision-making—can deliver extraordinary productivity increases of 300-400%.”
3 2025: The Year of AI Action, But also AI Differentiation
“Companies must embrace new AI tools, experiment, and get involved in the AI revolution. Not only should HR teams partner with IT, but they should also do their own investigation, exploring platforms like Copilot, Joule, Galileo from my company, Joule, and many others.
"The key themes of 2025 will center on two priorities: a) not how to just introduce AI but how to use it to redesign work, jobs, and processes and b) upskilling employees to collaborate effectively with these tools. In the coming quarters, organizations will invest heavily in redesigning work, empowering teams and ensuring effective system management to leverage AI's potential.
“To implement AI effectively, companies must also do so responsibly. Have action teams ready to work on finding your way through issues such as:
- What level of visibility should HR and leadership have into employees' AI usage, e.g., should we be able to see all their prompts and usage patterns?
- Who owns the intellectual property created by employees through AI platforms?
- Who ensures data privacy and security when employees upload content?
- How can we govern and test AI to prevent institutionalizing bias or errors?
- How do we select and partner with vendors we can trust?
- How can we protect these systems from external threats, including the internet, customers, partners, or supply chain ecosystem?
- When AI generates incorrect or harmful information, who is accountable?
"Hard work lies ahead—along with a potentially sobering realization: as AI becomes ubiquitous, success will hinge on job, process, and business design (and culture), not just the technology itself. Simply enabling tools like MS Copilot to summarize meetings is a commodity improvement and won’t deliver a competitive edge. The real differentiator will be your ability to redesign work and roles for high-value productivity, driving the race to build Superworker organizations faster than the competition."
4 A Rush to Build Greater Talent “Density”
“AI will play a pivotal role in 2025, but other factors will influence the CHRO in 2025 that are more to do with demographics and changing business fundamentals. Gone are the days of growing our business by hiring more people in an additive way; Instead, businesses will grow by hiring smarter, focusing on complementary talent. Revenue per employee in highly focused companies like Google, Netflix, or Microsoft is well over $1 million, while in their less competitive peers, it’s often far lower. In a company where every employee is empowered and enabled by AI and advanced skills, we should aim for a model where every team member performs as a 1 or a 2 in performance. This approach will foster what we’ve identified this year as a focus on building greater 'talent density.' When achieved, talent density has been proven to enhance revenue per employee, productivity, engagement, innovation, and retention. So, as we move into 2025, the key question will be: Do we need more bodies, or do we need more capability? If it’s the latter, Talent Acquisition in 2025 will focus on finding candidates who bring not just 'additive' value, but measurably 'multiplicative' value."
5 Things that Will Go up Next Year. Warning: One of Them Is Salary Expectations
"2025, the Year of the Superworker, will see a surge in demand for IT, data, and software roles, particularly in data management, as AI depends on precise labeling and tuning. However, non-technical specialists will also benefit significantly as they leverage AI to enhance their performance and profiles. Both groups will expect to be rewarded for their contributions, or they may walk. Compensation will increasingly reflect value and capabilities, not just titles.
This shift will disrupt traditional HR practices, such as performance management, where metrics will evolve from adoption speed to measurable productivity gains. Additionally, there will be inflationary pressure on wages. While increased productivity typically suggests lower labor costs, the average pay per worker is likely to rise—or at least be strongly advocated for. Also brace for some tense conversations about AI in general: based on the many conversations I’m having, it is clear that AI is intimidating many employees, so make sure your AI investments are positioned as tools for job augmentation, not people replacement.”
5 The Three Questions You Will Need Answers for Next Year
“As we learn about the impact of AI on organizations, three key questions consistently arise:
- Where can we apply AI to maximize productivity and accelerate time to market?
- What role will humans play as the system evolves and becomes smarter?
- How do we redesign jobs and the organization to reskill, restaff, or relocate the people involved?”
“You’ll need to determine organization-specific answers to these questions, but I can offer insight on the second: while many routine jobs will disappear, new roles in managing and fine-tuning AI will emerge, and human tasks will not just survive but become even more valuable. Our uniquely human abilities—listening, selling, empathizing, designing, imagining, inspiring, and prioritizing—remain indispensable. In fact, creativity and judgment are likely to be even more highly prized in the AI-driven future.
"The simple takeaway to share with your boss: AI can analyze endlessly, but it’s up to humans to decide what work truly matters."
6 Get Set for a New Talent Model
"All this suggests that the traditional prehire-to-retire approach to talent management is not going to help us that much. While we still need processes like onboarding, career development, performance management, and leadership development, I believe it’s time to rethink and redefine how they’re executed.
"To be honest, this will be challenging unless you can answer ‘yes’ to more than one of these prompts:
- Do you have a gig work platform or an internal talent marketplace?
- Are managers comfortable sharing work across teams and empowering employees to develop skills outside of their current job?
- Does your HR organization have a vision of a dynamic career and can you support career paths that may not move into management?
- What rewards are in place for technical experts, project leaders, or professional specialists in a world with fewer managerial roles?
“In other words, it’s time to reimagine career progression in a world defined by Superwork.”
7 You’ll Be Having a Lot of New Conversations with the HR and L&D Tech Market
“Many new HR and edtech firms will soon be vying for your attention—and your budget. Be prepared for a strong push from AI-first HCM providers like Paradox, Eightfold, Vee (Visier), ServiceNow, and many others. Before committing to a new ATS or CRM, explore AI-first platforms, which often render traditional systems obsolete.
“In the L&D space, for the first time in almost a decade we’re at a point where the tech stack can be re-engineered. Legacy LMS and LXP infrastructure can now finally be replaced with AI-driven front-ends, AI-generated content, and highly personalized learning experiences. Expect a wave of pitches for new AI systems designed for management coaching, employee support, and self-service. While the vendor landscape is still immature, these solutions are now mature enough for prototyping and initial implementation.
“As someone who has been immersed in L&D since 1998, I can confidently say the field has never been more exciting. Concepts like learning in the flow of work, micro-learning, mobile-learning, video-learning, adaptive learning, learning objects, and gamified learning are finally becoming achievable at a low to modest cost, giving organizations the chance to truly reimagine their approaches.
“At the same time, a new wave of AI-based performance management is emerging. Tools like Ripple and others are now capable of evaluating performance and employee activities, automatically generating development plans, stack rankings, and goal evaluations. These advancements are set to revolutionize how we manage and support talent.”
8 Another Look at Employee Experience
“What is the deal you offer to employees, and how does your Employee Experience truly compare to others’? As we move into 2025, rising demands for inflation-adjusted pay, greater flexibility (with remote working as a standard expectation), and persistent labor shortages may force organizations to reevaluate their entire benefits stack. In a Superworker economy, we all have to think more deeply about what we’re doing for each employee, and that strategy starts with a discussion of the effort and money you’re putting behind that.”
“In a Superworker economy, we all need to think more deeply about what we’re doing for each employee. This strategy must begin with a serious discussion about the effort, investment, and prioritization you’re dedicating to improving the employee experience.”
9 Investing in AI as a Skills and Jobs Tracker
“It’s time to take Talent Intelligence seriously. Platforms like Eightfold, Seekout, Lightcast, Draup, Gloat, and SAP’s new Talent Intelligence hub are now becoming highly mature, offering the CHRO unprecedented levels of data and labor market insight. When used effectively, these tools enable precise sourcing and recruiting strategies. Even with your new superpowers, predicting every shift in the labor and skills market for 2025 is impossible. That’s why the ability to see the trending strategic skills, roles, and jobs among competitors could be a decisive advantage in the race for talent.”
10 Upgrade Your Notions of What Leaders Do
“It’s not just employees who need to embrace AI; so does the corner office. In a year marked by job redesign and automation, leaders must navigate significant change. We have to bring our leaders together as automation accelerates, not only to reassure them of its value but also to position the rise of AI/Superworking as an opportunity. This is the moment for leaders to rethink and reinvent their teams, ensuring they are equipped with critical future skills in AI and change management.
“Here’s how you can prepare leadership for 2025 and beyond:
- Make sure your leadership understands AI and its role in your company
- Focus the C-suite on invention, job redesign, and creative use of new tools
- Teach and support your leaders to do more with the existing team and think about boosting productivity, not headcount
- Develop a framework for inclusive growth, empowerment, and a strong focus on clear accountability in parallel with flexibility
- Help leaders balance growth with reinvention, execution vs. innovation, and quality vs. time to market. Be prepared for rapid shifts and adapt strategies as needed
- Equip your leadership with contingency plans that address today’s pressing challenges, including cyber risks, AI-related risks, climate change, geopolitical instability, and unforeseen crises
- Clearly communicate your strategy. People will adapt and accept your pay strategy if it’s consistent and clear. Managers need discretion but the more clarity you provide for high-performers, and employees in high-demand, and high-skilled roles the better.”
11 Last but Not Least: It’s Time to Supe-up Your Team
“In the age of the Superworker, HR becomes the backbone of organizational success. With labor markets growing ever more competitive and employees demanding unparalleled levels of agency and flexibility, HR’s role is more critical—and more complex—than ever. With 94 distinct capabilities assessed in our Josh Bersin Academy, it's clear that while the impact of AI is just beginning, HR's responsibility for time-to-market, execution, and leadership will be pivotal, as all are directly influenced by human capital.
“However, the HR function is often undervalued. On average, companies employ one HR professional for every 100 employees, representing less than 1% of total payroll. Despite this, HR teams are tasked with hiring, training, supporting, and inspiring every employee and leader within the company.
“Therefore, in 2025, I strongly urge CEOs to invest in their HR teams. Allocate time and resources to their development, bring together groups to exchange insights and strategies, and continue to rethink HR’s role. It’s essential that HR becomes more technology-enabled, impactful, and strategic to ensure the success of the company as it navigates the complexities of the Superworker economy.”
Feel free to quote from Josh’s commentary.
This is just a flavor of his thinking on the priorities CHROs should focus on next year. I’d be delighted to share the full, detailed 40-page Josh Bersin Company report, The Rise of The SuperWorker, if you’d like to dive deeper.
