Workforce Planning Gains Importance
Dresner Advisory Services has published its 2026 Workforce Planning and Analysis Market Study. The report indicates a year-over-year increase in the importance of workforce planning and analysis. The study found strong demand for these capabilities in enterprises of all sizes.
- According to the 2026 study, over 74% of organizations now view workforce planning and analysis as important, treating it as a priority for the entire business rather than just the Human Resources department. - The report highlights the growing influence of artificial intelligence, with 72.6% of respondents rating agentic AI for process automation as important and 68.3% saying the same for using generative AI to create narratives. - A major industry trend is the move away from historical reporting and toward predictive analytics to forecast future talent needs, identify potential skills gaps, and model different workforce scenarios. - This increased focus on planning is partly a response to significant skills shortages, with one survey finding that 77% of employers report difficulty finding workers with the necessary skills. - Companies are increasingly adopting a skills-based approach to talent management, focusing on employee capabilities and potential rather than rigid job descriptions to build more adaptable teams. - Despite its growing importance, a Deloitte survey indicated that 83% of companies globally still report having low maturity in their workforce analytics capabilities. - Howard Dresner, the founder and chief research officer at Dresner Advisory Services, noted that these capabilities are crucial for improving business alignment and connecting strategy to execution. - Organizations that effectively use workforce analytics see tangible benefits, including being three times more effective in their workforce planning and achieving double the talent retention rates.
