Survey shows which HR roles are seeing the biggest declines
HR professionals’ own function, not just the departments they support, is shrinking under AI-driven workforce transformation, according to a recent report.
The findings come from Visier's report Hidden in the Headcount: The State of Workforce Transformation During the AI Reckoning, which draws on more than 3.6 million employee records from over 155 enterprise-sized organizations, tracked between 2022 and May 2026.
Of the 30 job domains Visier analyzed, HR was among 11 that posted a decline in headcount share, while data & analytics and product management grew fastest, up 49% and 39%, respectively.
"Companies may be investing in turning AI capability into products, while HR and finance shrink as routine tasks get automated," the report states.
HR's hiring share fell even further than its headcount, dropping 31% through the start of 2025 before rebounding 9% since, a pattern the report says reflects a focus on "managing their current workforce, navigating compliance, and handling workplace conflict," rather than growth-driven recruitment.
DE&I hiring halted, labour relations in demand
Within HR, hiring of DEI professionals stopped entirely in the final month of Visier's analysis, the report states. "While the total halt in DE&I hiring likely reflects changes that are unrelated to AI, they indicate a focus away from certain long-term culture initiatives that were important only a few years ago," the report notes.
By contrast, employee and labour relations specialists saw a 176% larger share of hiring within the domain, while talent acquisition and workforce planning specialist hiring fell 16% and 67%, respectively.
One HR director interviewed for the report said AI has compressed his team's project timelines from months to days, calling the shift "an opportunity to accelerate your career trajectory by really embracing the new tools, by being curious and pushing the envelope."
HR must lead AI implementation, not just support it, according to a previous report.
Preparedness gap tied to lagging data
Nearly 9 in 10 (87) of business leaders say AI workforce strategy is business-critical, but just 5% of CHROs feel prepared, according to the Visier study, which draws on more than 3.6 million employee records from over 155 enterprise-sized organizations, tracked between 2022 and May 2026.
“The reason isn't effort, but missing data," the report states.
The gap is structural, not a lack of effort, Visier says, because most HR data relies on annual planning cycles, static HRIS reports and retrospective attrition metrics that surface shifts only after the business has already changed.
To close that gap, Visier recommends CHROs track domain and job changes as they happen, use real-time signals to plan reskilling and internal mobility, and prioritize granular workforce data by domain, subdomain and age.
As the report puts it: "None of these shifts are visible from a single, aggregate number. They only become clear when the data is broken down by dimensions including domain, subdomain, and age, which is often not readily available."
HR must control the AI narrative before fear of AI spreads among workers, according to a previous report.
