2022 State of the HR Industry
Raise your hand if you saw more changes in your organization over the last two years than you have in the past several years combined.
You’re not alone. The events of 2020-2022 have transformed many aspects of human resources and organizational culture. HR professionals face new concerns like the Great Resignation as well as elevating priorities like DEI. How will 2021’s events shape your 2022?
To help, we’re releasing our annual HR Industry Trends Report, where we surveyed over 700 HR professionals to understand the state of the industry and where to go from here.
How HR industry professionals feel after two years in the pandemic
In our annual HR Industry trends report for 2022, we start by asking HR professionals, “How are you feeling?” Challenged, was the answer according to three-fourths of the HR professionals we’ve surveyed. 38% report exhaustion and 31% say they’re frustrated.
On the positive side, 31% say they’re excited and nearly 30% say the changes of the last year energized them.
Who’s in HR today?
HR departments in the U.S. are 64% female and 34% male. Over 55% of HR departments are predominantly white.
Tech is an exception to this gender disparity. Men make up 51% of tech HR departments and hold 53% of tech HR leadership positions. Women hold 47% of tech HR leadership positions, and 2% of tech leaders identified as non-binary. Over 80% of tech HR leaders are white.
As the report points out, “While this may look like tech HR teams have achieved gender parity, this actually points to the continued underrepresentation of women and people of color in the tech industry.”
HR professionals weigh in on remote work
As of October 2022, half of U.S. HR professionals said they work in a hybrid, remote or in-office structure. 21% said they’re in the office full-time, and 16% say they’re 100% remote. 10% allow all employees to choose their workspace.
Almost half of HR professionals say that remote work increases their productivity, however, an equal number report that it either decreases productivity or has no effect at all. The type of office structure influenced their opinion. Nearly 60% of fully remote HR pros say remote work increased productivity. 42% of in-office HR pros say it decreased productivity.

HR professionals have mixed opinions on whether work from home (WFH) affects their service delivery. 32% say WFH makes services easier, while 31% say it’s more difficult. The effectiveness of in-person communication and the flexibility of remote work are two factors that may influence their experiences.
The vast majority of HR professionals are feeling challenged and exhausted by the pandemic, and they’re facing even bigger hurdles as the Great Resignation continues and the need to rapidly improve their diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts intensifies. To take on these challenges, 55% of HR professionals plan to increase spend for HR technologies.
2022 will continue to be a year of change and HR professionals will need to continually evolve and find ways to attract and support the new workforce.
Do you want to learn what HR professionals think about the Great Resignation, their DEI priorities for 2022, and data on the impact of HR technology? Get the full report and read on.