Dive Brief:
- Organizations in 2026 are facing culture dissonance as companies expect more from employees without offering more in return, according to a recent workplace trend report from business and technology firm Gartner.
- Negative psychological impacts resulting from the pervasiveness of artificial intelligence, as well as poor quality work resulting from an “overwhelming focus on AI adoption” were also among the findings reported in the research, which identified nine trends that CHROs will need to address in 2026.
- Another aspect of AI’s influence has been job seekers’ use of the tech to make their applications easier and more appealing, even as organizations use AI to sift through a high volume of resumes. In the coming year, CHROs will need to focus on the human aspect of recruiting to counteract this trend, per Gartner.
Dive Insight:
Some organizations have embraced “a startup-style culture,” with long hours, aggressive performance management and minimal flexibility, and are expecting more from employees without offering additional compensation, flexibility or benefits, per Gartner.
A 2026 WorkWatch Report from Monster underscored this sentiment, with 73% of workers citing increased salary as their important priorities for the coming year.
Kaelyn Lowmaster, director of research in the Gartner HR practice, said there’s a growing cultural dissonance, when workplace culture no longer reflects reality.
“As a result, we’re seeing ‘regrettable retention,’ where disengaged employees remain in their role, and damage to the employment brand, both of which threaten CEOs’ performance ambitions,” Lowmaster said in the Gartner report, adding that CHROs should be clear about the reality of their employee value proposition and what they expect from employees in terms of factors such as output, hours and location.
In addition, AI continues to affect employees, job seekers and HR professionals. A recent study from Indeed’s Hiring Lab found that more than 8 in 10 workers who use AI tools at their jobs reported saving time at work, freeing them up to take on other projects.
However, Gartner’s new study cautioned that CHROs need to equip managers and leaders with the tools to “spot symptoms of disordered AI use” and identify mental health problems associated with pervasive AI use at work. The study also said CHROs will be responsible for preventing “erosion of key skills” prompted by AI overuse.
Notably, the “overwhelming focus on AI adoption” has led to “workslop,” Gartner said, meaning a lot of quickly produced, low-quality work made using AI.
Recruiting is also not immune to the issue, as a previous Gartner study noted that by 2028, 1 in 4 candidate profiles worldwide could be fake.
