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From AI to cultural issues and a foreign election, HR leaders in Europe have a lot on their minds. That’s according to an Oct. 9 report from Littler, a global employment law firm.
Where in the world? While 72% of the 627 HR and business leaders surveyed by Littler said their organization’s HR pros use AI to perform at least one of their job functions, 38% reported feeling moderately or very concerned about AI-fueled job displacement. Furthermore, 44% of employers said they use AI to develop HR materials like job descriptions or onboarding documents, 30% use it in the recruitment process, and 28% don’t use it at all. This is on par with how US employers say they’re using AI in HR.
However, just 29% of respondents said they currently have AI usage policies, and half don’t have any parameters in place.
But that’s not all that leaders are thinking about—their greatest concerns are shifting economic conditions, technology, and cultural issues. Some 53% of respondents said that social and cultural issues are a concern for their workplaces, and 79% increased their focus on ESG over the last year.
There are many major elections in Europe this year, and 86% of employers said managing political discourse in the workplace is difficult to various degrees. And 48% of those European pros said they’re moderately or very concerned about the outcome of the US presidential election.
“Ongoing cultural debates and geopolitical events—such as the war in Gaza and the growing salience of LGBTQ+ rights issues—are bringing political discourse into the workplace in novel ways,” Jan-Ove Becker, a Littler partner in Germany, said. “Managing varying beliefs and opinions is becoming a significant employee relations issue for C-suite executives and creating an environment where employers are expected to do more than simply manage their workforces.”
Satellite view. The world really does feel smaller in moments like this, as many US employers navigate similar workplace matters. However, just 12% of US employers are concerned about job disruptions from AI, and just 51% use AI for the HR function, according to Littler’s 2024 US employer survey.
As for the presidential election, US employers (49%) are also moderately or very concerned about the outcome and political discourse in the workplace.
To borrow phrasing from politicians, maybe there’s more that unites HR leaders around the world than divides them.