Human Resources profession facing a “brain drain” in 2025 amid planned resignations

• Over a third (34%) of HR professionals are considering leaving the industry within the next year

• Function still being held back by admin, with 55% of HR professionals keen to refocus their attention towards improving company culture

LONDON, 15 January 2025: The UK’s HR departments are under increasing pressure and remain burdened by time-consuming admin and paperwork, with over half (52%) of HR professionals reporting that they have suffered burnout within the past five years. 

According to the latest research from HR technology platform Personio, HR functions are reaching a critical tipping point, with 43% of senior business leaders also identifying burnout as a problem within these departments.

As a result businesses could face an exodus from HR teams not just from their organisation, but the profession itself. Over a third (34%) of HR professionals are considering leaving the industry for another role within the next year.

The findings lift the lid on the overwhelming workloads, increased responsibilities and hefty admin levels that are squeezing the function. Almost four in ten (38%) HR professionals believe they have an excessive workload. Many believe unnecessary admin is a major contributor to this, as 41% say they spend the majority of their time on this every week.

This is coupled with increasing pressure from within their organisation, fuelled by growing expectations from employees and senior business leaders alike. 38% of HR professionals feel employees have become more demanding of HR. As a result many believe the problems facing HR departments will get worse before they get better, as almost a third (32%) see their list of responsibilities getting longer over the next five years. 

“Businesses are missing out on the real impact their HR teams can have by not investing in the tools they need. People enter the HR function to help businesses succeed through their people. HR leaders are uniquely positioned to align people’s skills with organizational needs and foster organizational environments that are engaging, productive and rewarding places to work. However, the reality of their current day-to-day jobs is often more focused on paperwork and process. This discontent means businesses could face a challenging spike in HR turnover, just at a time when they want their teams performing at their best.”

Personio’s study highlights the need to give HR the resource and technological support it needs to serve the strategic needs of their businesses. Not only is this work critical, but also highly rewarding for HR professionals. Of those surveyed, 93% said they enjoy supporting the learning and development of employees, and 58% said they want to do more of this in their role. Meanwhile, 91% enjoy working with senior leadership on HR and business strategy, with 45% wanting to do it more. 

This extends to creating positive and productive workplace cultures. 95% of respondents said they enjoy improving their company’s culture, with over half (55%) saying they want to do more of this in their role. 

“As an HR professional myself, I’ve seen firsthand just how challenging working in an overstretched and under-resourced environment can be. As we head into 2025, organisations should embrace intelligent HR tools that can help HR teams to focus on what they love, and where they can add most value to businesses. These tools deliver immense value, through automating time-consuming admin to delivering actionable, data driven insights on areas such as employee performance and feedback. This won’t just prevent an exodus of HR talent; it will be key to creating a crucial competitive advantage in the months ahead.” 

Survey fieldwork was conducted by Censuswide on behalf of Personio between the 18th and 28th of October 2024. Two surveys were conducted, one of 500 HR professionals in UK companies with between 10-2000 employees, and another of 253 UK employees at senior management level or above, in companies of the same size. 

About Personio:

Personio is the all-in-one HR platform that unlocks the power of people for small and medium-sized organizations. Trusted by over 14,000 organizations that together manage more than 1 million employees, Personio drives productivity for HR teams, managers and employees by improving HR processes and boosting employee experience. Our ever-evolving product makes Personio a clear choice for organizations looking to upgrade their people platform for now and the future. 

Learn more about our product, or how to join our teams in Munich, London, Madrid, Dublin, Berlin, Barcelona, New York, Amsterdam and remotely, here: http://www.personio.com