- Category:
Small Business Energy Savings - Published:
March 25, 2025
Workplace Trends for 2025
Many forces are driving workplace trends for 2025. They may affect how your business operates, your productivity, profitability and even your competitive edge. Keeping an eye on them will help you find opportunities and avoid potential pitfalls. You can stay nimble and prioritize your investments to set your company up for success.
As you set annual and quarterly goals, it is important to take into account how trends will affect employees, culture, operations and financial risks and upsides. Your planning has to stay dynamic to make the most of that rapid change that is now part of every business of every size in every industry.
7 trends shaping the small business workplace in 2025
The following 2025 workplace trends really do affect nearly every aspect of running a business. From technology advances to employee work situations, to customer and employee expectations, the following workplace trends are expansive and potentially high impact.
1. AI adoption and workforce training
An Intuit study found that 89% of small businesses are using AI tools to automate routine tasks and boost productivity. A Business.com study focused on adoption and employee experiences using AI found that about 75% of employees believe AI makes them more productive, with 60% reporting higher work satisfaction.
Some barriers to faster adoption and expanded use exist — 72% of managers or decision-makers report not knowing enough about the tools, according to the Intuit study. The lack of training, reported by 54% of employees in the Business.com study, is also a limitation.
2. Focus on employee engagement and well-being
Companies are investing in employee well-being, an idea that starts with physical health but includes emotional, financial, social and environmental health, as well. Employees who are happy and healthy boast 13% higher productivity.
A Deloitte report cited 80% of executives making employee well-being a priority, however, almost 90% of employees felt work life was worsening. And 68% were not using well-being resources at their company. Promoting engagement with these resources will require leadership, a redesign of working environments or jobs and offering new ways of working.
3. Return to office mandates continue to rise
Remote and hybrid work was a trend that extended well beyond the pandemic. 2024 saw 33% of employers requiring workers be onsite 100% of the time, with expectations that will rise to 50%. Gallup numbers have 55% working in a hybrid arrangement with some remote and some onsite work, driven by a better work-life balance, more efficient time use and higher productivity. Finding and keeping good employees will require greater flexibility in work arrangements.
4. Shifts in the hybrid work model
While the return to office trend continues, many more companies are keeping hybrid options and adjusting them to fit the needs of teams and functions. Greater flexibility in hybrid work models is one of the major 2025 workplace trends.
Product development teams spread out across geographies may meet in person quarterly, while sales teams might convene in the office weekly. Companies are moving to performance metrics vs. attendance and are looking for more focused time working vs. attending meetings. Some companies are instituting no-meetings days.
5. Increasing support for childcare challenges
Working parents continue to struggle with balancing work with childcare. The number of moms who work is up nearly 2% over pre-pandemic numbers, yet they still bear the burden of caring for children. In fact, 77% of workers who called out of work because of childcare issues were women.
A 2025 workplace trend is for companies seeking to find and keep good workers to offer childcare support in the form of backup childcare, onsite care and employer-provided childcare subsidies.
6. Growing participation in the gig economy
The number of people taking short-term, project-based jobs — and the number of employers offering this option — is growing at a fast clip. Among workforce trends in 2025, this one is rising fast for this year and into the next decade. The gig economy is worth $557 billion now and is expected to top $2,147 billion by 2033.
Your small business can benefit from this trend with lowering your recruiting costs while getting the talent you need more quickly. You have flexibility to staff up for projects and then quickly cut your workforce when necessary. You get high-quality talent without all the overhead costs.
7. Cross-generation interaction and friction
Wrapping up the workplace trends for 2025 is the emergence of cross-generation friction in the workplace. While differing age groups have always existed, today’s age diversity is among people who have experienced wildly different work cultures.
Your oldest employees may have started their careers before computers and cell phones were common. Your newest employees spent their formative years during the pandemic in remote educational settings. Older employees value in-person meetings and phone calls, while younger ones may prefer instant messaging.
With workers that span Boomer, Gen X, Millennial and Gen Z age groups, managing age diversity is a challenge. Team building programs, mentorship experiences and using a variety of communication methods can bridge the gaps.
Leveraging workplace trends to grow your business in 2025
The various workplace trends for 2025 can challenge your small business. At the same time, change always opens opportunities. The pace of change is picking up, gaining steam seemingly by the week. Taking advantage of the positive side of trends means finding a way to keep up.
To thrive through the workplace and sustainability trends in 2025, it helps to focus your resources and attention. Consider which 2025 workplace trends will affect your industry and business the most this year and in the next 3–5 years. What threats and risks do they create? What opportunities do they hold? How are your strategic goals affected? What are the costs and benefits associated with each?
Thinking through the scenarios will help you plan around these trends, protecting your business and ultimately benefiting from them.
