Skip to main content

Hello, everyone!

So, I’m a fan of kicking every year off with some optimism. However, the HR industry, as always, is facing some headwinds that need to be addressed. One example is the amount of burnout-driven resignations that are about to happen in 2025. 

Here at Personio, my colleagues have been doing some research on the HR profession in the UK. What they’ve found is sobering, including 41% of those surveyed saying they spend the majority of their time on unnecessary admin. This has led to over half of surveyed professionals reporting burnout and over a third planning on leaving the industry altogether this year.

With this in mind, I’m curious what our community thinks might be the way forward. Here are some questions to consider:

  • How would you address this problematic trend? 
  • Is the focus on unnecessary admin a tech issue or an organisational culture issue? Or something else entirely?
  • Have you faced these issues of overwhelm in the past? How have you dealt with them?

Hey Moe, I am trying to find them 31 replies in your headline to see what others are thinking. Interesting topic. 

Hi ​@Bart! That number actually refers to the number of replies I have posted from my profile across the community 😄

The stats for the post are just under the title at the top. 

It would be a great follow up if there was a way to track how many did leave the profession?

This has led to over half of surveyed professionals reporting burnout and over a third planning on leaving the industry altogether this year.

The reason I ask is that I get the sense that as companies seem to grow or get acquired there is a downsizing of HR in total terms - I’m hearing more and more that rather than hire a Senior HR pro that role is made redundant and replaced by a more Junior role - sometimes 2 Junior roles, but often just one.

As such there is a lot of Senior talent turning to Consultancy/Contracting - the rise of the “Fractional” Head of HR / CPO / HR Director etc. 
For some this is positive - but for others it has felt to them like now they are having to fight for work, etc. whereas before they were in a perm. role.

 

Certainly for myself - where before there were roles above mine I am seeing the concentration of more senior roles and higher wages become ever more redirected to World Cities (London, New York etc.) with Local Cities seemingly left behind with less senior or lower paid HR roles.

But on the actual numbers leaving the profession - I don’t know if this is as a result of people being reclassified as Consultants rather than HR professionals. As Internal HR Teams are reduced - whether that is in Recruitment, Reward, Strategy, etc. and more is outsourced.

​@JHBEM you make some very interesting points! 

The idea that a senior role in a function as crucial as HR can be taken for granted to such an extent is remarkable. It’s also quite unfair to the junior people who are being set up, one can argue, to fail in a scenario where they are expected to make up for a lack of senior leadership.

The perm to consultancy transition cannot be an easy one. Even in my previous careers, going towards consultation was brutally difficult to start.

The concentration of those higher roles in major capital cities feels like it’s been happening for quite some time in other industries as well. Forgive my ignorance, but I wasn’t aware this trend was affecting HR as well! 

Your reply


Terms & Conditions of the Personio Voyager Community