WorkBuzz today released its Future of Work Report 2026, revealing that HR professionals are experiencing a wellbeing crisis, employee engagement has nosedived, and AI adoption in HR remains untapped.
The Report examines the current and changing roles, priorities and challenges of U.K. HR professionals as they adapt to the ever-evolving world of work. Responses were gathered from 367 HR professionals and senior executives across a range of U.K. industry.
“It’s clear that HR professionals are reaching breaking point”, says Steven Frost, CEO and founder of employee engagement specialist, WorkBuzz. “The Report reveals that mounting workloads and shrinking resources are placing significant strain on HR teams, with the effects felt across U.K. businesses.”
53% of U.K. HR professionals have felt under constant strain at work over the past six months with a third admitting that work pressures have become worse over the last 12 months. The main reasons cited for this are having too much to do (65%) and not having enough people in the HR team to do the work (60%). Only 11% of HR teams have grown, with many having reduced in size this past year.
Frost says, “Change is accelerating faster than ever, yet 4 in 10 in-house HR teams have actually shrunk in size. With fewer resources and rising demands, it’s no surprise many HR professionals are nearing burnout, leaving little capacity for the strategic work that truly drives long-term, sustainable performance.”
The Report also highlights how employee engagement has stagnated over the past 12 months, with only a third of HR professionals feeling that engagement in their organisation has improved. This is compared to 58% a year ago. On top of this, 16% feel that engagement has got worse – up 4% from last year.
There is a strong correlation between a dip in employee engagement and HR struggling with fewer resources. Plus, a growing misalignment between the HR and Executive teams is impacting engagement. The Report reveals that where HR and leadership don’t ‘see eye-to-eye’ in their approach, and a lack of trust between the teams exists, fewer than 10% of these organisations have seen an improvement in engagement over the past 12 months, and almost 50% report a decline.
The untapped potential of AI for easing some of HR’s burden is also uncovered in The Future of Work. HR is lagging behind many other departments in adopting AI with 79% of HR teams either not using AI or just starting to explore its usage. Of those HR professionals using AI, 38% are using it solely for recruitment and talent acquisition, with the main obstacle to adoption being a lack of internal expertise (69%).
Frost comments, “AI is the game-changer HR needs to do more with fewer resources. It can strip out administrative tasks and elevate HR’s power. But hesitation around AI use remains, and unless HR leaders confront this directly, and in partnership with AI specialists, they will struggle to safeguard their strategic role.”
WorkBuzz’s Future of Work 2026 Report can be downloaded at www.workbuzz.com/research-ebooks/people-priorities-future-of-work-2026
