Is the C-Suite future-ready and equipped for 2025?

In the past year,  the world of work has been characterised by instability and change. The AI revolution continues to force companies and workers to adapt, megatrends like economic uncertainty and geopolitical tensions make it hard to plan for the future, and a pervasive disconnect between workers and leaders poses a cultural challenge. 

Last year, the Adecco Group’s Navigating through change: Leading through the great disruption report revealed that leaders were simply not ready  to implement ethical, responsible AI frameworks and bring their people into the new AI-driven world of work. Instead of building skills internally, leaders were planning to recruit digital and AI skills externally.

Since then, the Adecco Group’s Global Workforce of the Future 2024 research showed that this did not go over the heads of global workers. While more workers were staying with their current employer in 2024, many were losing faith in their employer’s commitment to their professional development.

So, where are we a year later? Are leaders better equipped today to build workforce resilience in 2025? The Adecco Group’s Business Leaders research surveys 2,000 leaders across 17 industries and 13 countries to capture a snapshot of the C-Suite perspective on the world of work. In anticipation of the 2025 iteration of this research , we highlight the questions future-ready leaders must ask themselves and the actions they should undertake to build resilience in the year ahead.

Are leaders buying into internal mobility?

In 2024,  the majority of leaders (65%) said skills shortages were having a moderate to significant impact on their business. Conversely, 71% of workers were willing to be flexible and adaptable to adjust to changing environments, and over half of workers (51%) saw AI as an opportunity to broaden their career prospects. In other words, most workers were ready for the next step and expected their leaders to guide them there. 

In fact, 76% believed employers should re- or upskill existing employees before hiring externally to fill roles. But, in 2024, only half of leaders (52%) had implemented strategies to encourage internal mobility within their organisations.

Even more worrying is the fact that only 46% of leaders planned to redeploy workers if their jobs were impacted by AI.

This creates  a golden opportunity for leaders to build the resilience of their people - and their own - through internal mobility and development. Are leaders ready to capitalise on the potential of internal mobility in 2025?

Are leaders supporting workers?

One of the headline statistics that came out of Working through change: Adapting to an AI-driven world of work is the fact that 83% of workers were staying with their employer – up from 61% in 2022. However, fewer workers felt they could educate themselves about the future of work, and only 9% were staying put in the hope of being reskilled.

Was investment in development and career progression dwindling? Less than half (47%) of leaders had an inclusive talent strategy in place last year and only 25% of workers had received training on how to use AI at work.

Employers have a responsibility to prepare their workers for the future of work. From human skills like creativity and innovation, to digital and AI skills, to workers’ wellbeing, employers should enable and support all workers to unleash their full potential and do their best work. Can leaders revitalise their commitment in 2025?

Are leaders committed to building future-ready talent?

Leaders believed digital, data and AI skills will be the most in-demand within five years. But last year, two-thirds (66%) of the leaders surveyed by the Adecco Group were planning to recruit new talent to fill positions requiring AI skills, rather than train their existing teams. This “buy over build” mindset could create a two-speed workforce, exacerbating talent gaps.

The Adecco Group has since identified a minority group of workers who are adaptable, tech-savvy and proactive in their development. These future-ready workers outperform the global average, but today they only represent 11% of workers worldwide. However, these workers are not found, they are made with the support of their employers.

Leaders must upskill a new generation of future-ready workers by regularly assessing skills, communicating development opportunities, personalised development plans and leadership training.

Are leaders equipped to lead through the AI revolution?

A common theme in 2024 was a lack of trust in leadership. The Adecco Group’s research showed that only 43% of leaders had confidence in their leadership team’s AI skills and knowledge. In other words, most leaders felt they were ill-equipped to understand the risks and opportunities that come with AI deployment and create a beneficial strategy for its responsible implementation.

On this point, workers and leaders were in agreement. Only 46% of workers had confidence in their leaders’ ability to understand and implement AI strategies.
In 2025, leaders must hold themselves accountable to skill themselves in AI first, to allow their workforce to believe that they can make informed decisions on how and where it should be used.

Are leaders managing the AI transition responsibly?

Although 67% of leaders recognised that digital trust will significantly impact their business in the next five years, fewer than half (49%) had a framework in place for the ethical and responsible use of AI in 2024. 

What’s more, only one third (34%) of workers had completed training on ethical AI; even though 79% of workers who had received this training applied it to their work.

The global workforce must have confidence that emerging technologies are governed by responsible policies and frameworks. Whether an organisation is looking for AI to play a role in workforce planning, or to assist in expanding its talent pool, ‘digital trust’ must remain front of mind. Right from the start, businesses need to create a framework for how they use AI ethically and responsibly. Can organisations make progress on this in 2025?

Leading through change

In today’s fast evolving workplace, staying ahead has never been more important or more challenging. From AI’s transformative impact to shifting leadership demands, the C-Suite must prepare their organisations for change.


Sign up now to register for the Adecco Group’s latest Business Leaders 2025 research, published on 15 May. Find out how, together, leaders and workers can make the future work for everyone.