Many companies have always guided their employees along a career path based on their talents and interests. But in the age of labour shortages and high hiring costs, more and more are implementing purpose-built career pathing programmes that formalise and streamline the process of developing in-demand skills within the organisation.
During career pathing, the company helps employees identify and assess their goals, passions, skill set and proficiency levels. It then aligns them with organisational needs, creating a detailed career map for the coming years that boosts employee engagement and job satisfaction and increases employer retention and succession opportunities.
Things are constantly changing in the world of work, and career paths are being impacted by developing trends and technologies in the same way as other HR initiatives. In this article, we’ll cover some key developments that will continue to affect your career work in the months and years to come and provide examples of the impact they will have on your organisation.
current and future developments influencing career pathing.
AI-driven career pathing tools.
Over the last few years, the rapid development of generative and non-generative AI has significantly impacted our work and private lives. The career pathing field is no exception. AI tools are talented at analysing large amounts of complex information and creating accurate, helpful insights and suggestions. This makes the technology a valuable asset during career planning, where an employee’s professional background, interests and skills must be combined to suggest the most relevant and impactful future career plan.
Several generative and non-generative AI tools can come in useful. Some tools specialise in complex AI-driven predictive analytics that monitor an employee’s current career position and give indications of what should happen in the future for them to achieve their goals — for example, suggesting the optimal time for a promotion or specifying the essential skills an employee should focus on to be able to transition to the next stage in their career effectively.
However, other commonly used chat-based Generative AI tools can also come in handy. With the proper prompts, a GPT can be used as an interactive career coach or sounding board that an employee can interact with directly to help uncover their personal goals, professional growth priorities and potential future roles. A task that might once have required a member of the HR department to act as a coach can now be scaled across a large organisation without requiring a similarly large amount of HR resources.
AI creating new possibilities for future career paths.
Non-generative and generative AI isn’t just valuable in helping employees progress effectively on traditional career paths. In several industries, it’s also opening up a vast range of new careers that didn’t exist in the past. For example, an engineer at a manufacturing company may have worked towards a consumer electronics career for a number of years. However, with the rise of AI and its massive potential in engineering and R&D, they may discover a new passion and redirect their desired career path towards mastering these AI tools and pushing them even further. Career path examples like this exist in other fields, like marketing or sales. Employees who spent their workdays creating content or reaching out to potential customers might now be aiming for a future career in implementing and advancing AI tools that can streamline and boost these processes.
Every company, regardless of industry, needs to be aware of AI’s huge impact and the influence it may be having on their employees. Even though the technology in its present form is still relatively young, its impact will grow and develop in the coming years. This was proven in our 2025 Workmonitor study, where AI skills were the most common top choice of skills employees want to pursue in the near future. However, only half of UK workers (49%) trust their employer to invest and provide opportunities for continuous learning, particularly in AI and technology.
In this environment, large organisations can’t stay committed to enabling the typical career paths their employees have followed in the past. Remaining open to shifting employee career paths and seizing the opportunity to develop AI expertise within the organisation is a great way to make an early investment that will likely provide major returns in the future.
personalised, intelligent learning and development.
One of the most challenging aspects of implementing effective employee learning and development (L&D) initiatives is finding the optimal level. When a particular skill, such as leadership, needs to be strengthened among a group of employees in a large organisation, certain group members will need more help than others. If some employees are already relatively skilled and others are complete beginners, the L&D process can end up at the wrong level for both.
In cases like this, AI can create training programmes for each employee at just the right level. Companies like Udemy already use AI to tailor the learning path to each user based on their existing knowledge and skill levels, ensuring that the training is matched to their capabilities.
Outside of personalised training programmes, chat-based AI tools can also be used to work on practical workplace skills in a controlled, authentic environment. In their 2025 Global Learning and Skills Trend Report, Udemy gives the example of an employee using an AI chatbot to simulate communicating with a colleague around a complicated issue: “the employee who needs to practice and apply conflict resolution skills might use a GenAI chatbot to roleplay an upcoming conversation with a colleague where conflict might arise.”
Alternatively, the language capabilities of GPT tools can give feedback on real examples of communication within the workplace. For instance, by handing over an anonymised meeting transcription to the AI-powered chatbot, it can analyse the discussion and give the employee instant feedback on the clarity and effectiveness of their communication and the potential improvements they could make to their conflict resolution skills.
According to insights from our 2025 Workmonitor survey, over a third of respondents disagreed that their employers provide them with the training and development opportunities they want. By boosting your L&D with AI, your company can both enhance employee skills and stand out from the competition. However, AI tools should be seen as a useful complement to the career pathing process, and not the driving force behind it. Even as AI tools advance, they will struggle to match the career pathing support that is provided by a human manager that has a long relationship with the employee. As always, make sure to check your company’s AI policy before using AI tools in the career pathing process.
growing career opportunities in diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI)
DEI skills are in demand among large companies, even if that demand isn’t as high as it once was. Analysts have shown that the number of DEI-related job postings fell by around 43% between 2022 and 2024, and 2023 saw several major tech companies like Meta and Google downsizing their DEI initiatives.
However, workforces are becoming more diverse, and DEI is still an essential priority for workers, creating career growth potential for DEI career paths. Workmonitor showed that over a quarter of all respondents said their employer’s values in areas like diversity were “very important” when assessing their current job or considering future roles. Similarly, almost 60% of respondents agreed that “my employer’s equity, diversity and inclusion initiatives do not go far enough”.
Large companies must keep pursuing their DEI initiatives to attract top talent and respond to the workforce's attitudes. In future, this could lead to roles like Culture Manager, Diversity Coordinator or Chief Diversity Officer becoming more common and representing attractive career paths for engaged employees.
get more insights into the future of work in workmonitor 2025.
If you’re looking for more detailed information on what your current and future workforce is looking for regarding career path progression, L&D and skilling, download our latest Workmonitor report. Randstad’s global survey of over 26,000 employees from a wide range of industries gives clear insights into what HR departments need to focus on to attract top-performing candidates and set them on the career paths with the highest potential.
