Global Talent Trends 2026
B · Useful, limited Mercer's long-running Global Talent Trends survey of about 12,000 executives, HR leaders, investors and staff; useful for comparing what each group believes, but self-reported and framed around Mercer's HR consulting offer.
Summary based on the full text·Original: about 40 minutes to read
In short
Mercer's Global Talent Trends 2026, "Driving exponential performance: Solving the human-machine equation". It finds executives, HR leaders, investors and staff pulling in different directions: executives want work redesigned around AI and better people analytics, HR prioritises employee experience and skills-based processes, and staff report the lowest thriving score in the survey's history. It sets out four trends: reinvent for human advantage, talent foresight, a recalibrated value exchange and a new HR era.
Key numbers
- 63%executives who say redesigning work for AI and automation is the people initiative with the greatest return
- Only 32%executives who believe their workforce can optimally combine human and machine capabilities
- 99%executives who expect AI to lead to at least some headcount reduction in the next two years
- 44%employee thriving score in 2026, the lowest since the measure began in 2018
- 8%C-suite leaders who see HR as an embedded strategic function today
As reported by the source.
English·Web page·opens mercer.com
What it reports
- C-suite top people initiatives for ROI: redesigning work for AI and automation, people analytics, and managers able to lead mixed teams of people and AI agents. HR's top priorities: EVP and employee experience, skills-based processes, HR technology.
- 63% of executives back work redesign for AI, but only 32% think their workforce can combine human and machine capabilities well.
- 54% of the C-suite name talent scarcity as the top driver of people plans. 59% of HR leaders cite difficulty hiring digital skills.
- 98% plan organisation design changes within two years and 99% expect some AI-related headcount reduction.
- 57% of the C-suite see people analytics as the top ROI initiative, but 27% say HR advises them well on human capital risk.
- Employee thriving fell to 44%. 35% of employee respondents would consider leaving if they had unequal access to AI tools or training.
- 8% of the C-suite see HR as strategically embedded. 56% of HR leaders expect HR and IT to merge further.
How they got it
Online survey of about 12,000 people in 16 geographies and 16 industries, run by a third-party fieldwork provider in September and October 2025. Sub-samples: 9,250 staff, 825 C-suite, 1,650 HR leaders and 100 investors.
Limits
- All perceptions. The investor sample is small (100).
- "High-growth" firms are defined by self-reported growth of 10% or more.
- The narrative ("reinvent now or risk irrelevance") leads into Mercer's own HR transformation services.
Why it matters for companies
The 63% versus 32% gap is the practical finding: leaders want AI-redesigned work but doubt their people can do it, which makes job redesign and capability building the bottleneck rather than tool access. The 35% figure turns uneven AI access into a retention risk, so rollout fairness is an HR issue as well as an IT one. HR teams should test themselves against the C-suite's priority list; on Mercer's data, they are working on different problems.
Summary based on the full text. Read the original for the full argument and data.Read the original on mercer.com