Tackling workforce challenges in 2025

As businesses across the UK continue to navigate a tight labour market, persistent staff shortages have become a pressing workforce challenge. According to research by Indeed Flex, 40% of companies report weekly staffing issues due to recruitment struggles and employee absences. This is forcing many firms to re-evaluate their hiring and retention strategies, with experts calling for more innovative approaches to overcome these workplace challenges.

The importance of robust sickness management

One of our HR Technical Consultants at AdviserPlus, Kelly Armitage, highlights in this People Management Magazine article, the importance of robust sickness management processes and employee wellbeing strategies in tackling these workplace challenges. She emphasises that businesses must adopt a data-driven approach to understand the root causes of absenteeism and skills gaps.

We asked Kelly to expand on her views on what organisations can do to address talent gaps and what hiring challenges are we likely to see in 2025.

With this news and the changes brought in by the new Government, such as the increase in minimum wage and national insurance contributions, organisations need to adapt in order to utilise the employees they have. Upskilling through training is an effective way to manage talent gaps and ensure business operations continue smoothly, while also enabling managers to better manage sickness absence, preventing it from becoming an ongoing issue.

The role of proactive absence management

To address workplace challenges posed by sickness absence, organisations that proactively manage employee’s absence tend to see better outcomes. As highlighted in this case study, this can be achieved by establishing well-defined sickness management procedures for managers to apply consistently and ensuring regular communication with employees during their absence.

When these practices are applied, employees are more likely to return to work sooner. However, if employees repeatedly hit absence triggers and managers fail to have consistent conversations about this, organisations risk continuing to have higher absence rates, and are effectively losing money.

Leveraging technology to understand workforce challenges

Organisations need to implement the right technology that allows for robust data capture, and in turn allows for an impactful analysis which is essential for identifying patterns in employee absences and understanding the factors that may be undermining workforce wellbeing. By analysing these trends, organisations can uncover underlying issues, such as gaps in managers capability or areas within the company culture that may be have a level of dissatisfaction or disengagement among employees.

This proactive approach equips businesses to address problems at their source, whether by offering targeted training for managers,  working towards a more inclusive workplace culture, or implementing initiatives to support employee mental health and resilience.

It is crucial that organisations have well-designed policies in place so that all employees clearly understand the expected attendance levels and absence triggers. These policies should be holistic, encompassing not only attendance management but areas such as employee wellbeing and mental health support.

What can we expect from 2025?

2025 is expected to bring significant changes for organisations, with the combined impact of increased national wages, higher national insurance contributions, and new employment law updates. Research by the Empowering People Group, ‘Shift Happens’ indicates 81% of large enterprises expect to make workforce reductions in the coming year, highlighting the important need of preparing leaders to manage these transitions effectively. This includes having strong absence management practices in place. By developing thoughtful strategies that prioritise trust and morale, organisations can better navigate these changes while mitigating the risk of long-term reputational damage.

Find out more about how you can leverage our technology to help you solve workplace challenges in 2025. Get in touch today.