SHRM 2026 Workplace Research: What HR Leaders Need to Know

SHRM 2026 workplace research points to higher employee expectations, stretched HR teams, and persistent recruiting challenges that are reshaping the workplace.

Employees expect more from their employers, HR departments are struggling with workload and staffing, and finding qualified workers remains difficult. Those are among the findings emerging from SHRM’s 2026 State of the Workplace research, which paints a picture of organizations trying to respond to changing workforce demands while simultaneously managing their own talent challenges.

One of the clearest findings involves changing employee expectations. Seventy-two percent of HR professionals and executives say workers have higher expectations of employers today than in the past. SHRM also identifies employee experience as one of the top areas workers believe HR should prioritize.

Herb Dew, chairman of the board at HTI, sees those higher expectations as something employers need to understand rather than simply resist.

We can sit around and gripe about this generation, or we can see what they’re good at.

Herb Dew, chairman of the board, HTI

Dew said as much on a recent episode of Let’s Talk HR. He pointed to employee expectations around development, benefits and having a greater voice in organizational decisions, adding that he expects those demands to continue growing.

What SHRM 2026 Workplace Research Says About HR Pressure

Meeting those expectations is proving difficult for many of the people charged with managing the workplace. SHRM found that 58% of HR professionals report working beyond their limits, while 55% of HR professionals and executives say their HR teams operate with insufficient staff. The 58% figure has remained consistent with SHRM’s findings in 2023 and 2024.

Dew said the numbers reflect the expanding demands being placed on HR departments. HR teams are increasingly being asked to handle traditional compliance responsibilities while also creating an environment where employees want to join an organization and stay there, he said. Yet many HR functions may not have the staffing necessary to handle both effectively.

Addressing Employee Needs Has a Major Retention Payoff

The research also shows a striking relationship between how employees believe their needs are being addressed and how they feel about their jobs.

Among workers who view their organization as effective at addressing workplace needs, 91% report being satisfied with their jobs. By comparison, job satisfaction falls to just 44% among workers who believe their organization is ineffective at meeting those needs.

Retention follows a similar pattern. Seventy-seven percent of workers who believe their organization effectively addresses their needs say they are at least somewhat unlikely to leave. At organizations viewed as ineffective, 51% of workers say they are at least somewhat likely to leave within the next year.

For employers, that turns employee experience into more than a workplace-culture issue.

“If you’re doing the right things, you’re going to have a much better chance of keeping employees,” Dew said while discussing the retention findings.

Recruiting Remains Difficult

Keeping employees becomes even more important when replacing them remains challenging.

SHRM’s 2026 Talent Trends research, based on responses from more than 2,000 HR professionals, found that 68% reported difficulty recruiting full-time employees during the previous 12 months. Among HR professionals experiencing recruiting difficulties, 53% said recruiting had become more difficult than it was a year earlier.

The problem isn’t simply attracting applicants. SHRM reports significant difficulty finding candidates with the skills employers need, particularly judgment, decision-making, complex problem-solving and other systems and resource-management skills. Yet one potential solution remains relatively underused: developing people already inside the organization.

Only 41% of HR professionals say their organizations train existing employees for hard-to-fill roles.

That number surprised Dew. “We’re always talking about upskilling, always talking about reskilling,” he said, calling the finding an opportunity for organizations that aren’t yet developing existing employees for difficult-to-fill positions.

Job Rotation Shows Strong Results

Another SHRM finding suggests employers may have an effective talent-development strategy hiding in plain sight. Ninety-three percent of HR professionals whose organizations use job-rotation programs report that those programs are effective at addressing talent shortages. The approach gives employees exposure to different roles and functions while helping organizations develop talent internally rather than relying exclusively on outside hiring.

Dew said HTI is working on rotational opportunities for young graduates and sees the concept as both a development tool and a recruiting advantage.

Companies that provide that kind of experience, he said, can become more attractive to younger employees while simultaneously exposing workers to different parts of the organization.

Social Media Is Widely Used But Not Universal

SHRM’s research also found that 59% of HR professionals use social media as a recruiting strategy. In the 2026 Talent Trends research, social media was the most frequently reported recruiting strategy, although HR professionals ranked it only ninth in effectiveness for filling open positions.

Taken together, the numbers illustrate a workplace caught between rising expectations and limited resources.

Employees are asking more of employers. HR teams are stretched. Recruiting remains difficult. And organizations are increasingly being pushed to think beyond simply filling the next vacancy toward improving employee experience, retaining the people they already have and developing talent internally.

The percentages may vary from one workplace to another, but SHRM’s research points to a larger conclusion: the organizations best positioned to compete for talent will be those that pay attention not only to how they recruit employees, but to what happens after those employees walk through the door.

Want help building a retention and development strategy? Learn more about HTI’s workforce solutions.