Are careers in workforce analytics growing?

The landscape of using data to understand the workforce has moved lightyears past simple spreadsheet tracking. What was once an emerging niche—often called People Analytics or HR Analytics—is now foundational to organizational strategy, prompting the critical question of where careers in this domain are heading. The evidence suggests a field in transformation, moving through a challenging period of reassessment while simultaneously being propelled forward by exponential technological growth.

# Market Trajectory

For well over a decade, the momentum for workforce analytics careers appeared unstoppable. In the US, practitioners of what is often termed People Analytics saw their numbers multiply by five times over the preceding fifteen years. This growth trajectory seemed destined to continue, mirroring the expanding market interest in turning employee data into actionable insights. Globally, the HR analytics market is expected to climb toward USD 9.9 billion by 2032, maintaining a strong compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13.4%. Furthermore, workforce planning, a discipline heavily reliant on these insights, leads even faster, boasting a 25% CAGR.

However, the narrative has become more complex recently. Data covering the transition period since late 2022 indicates a surprising friction point: dedicated people analytics roles have actually experienced negative growth. This phenomenon has seen over one thousand practitioners exit the dedicated People Analytics space in the last two years. This suggests that the field might be moving past an era fueled by speculative investment—perhaps tied to historically low interest rates—and into a phase where proven, tangible results are the only path to sustained growth.

This career shift is evident in where these professionals land next. The vast majority of those leaving dedicated People Analytics roles are moving into other HR disciplines, such as Human Resource Specialist or Talent Acquisition Specialist positions. Even more telling is the financial incentive: those who transition out of a dedicated People Analytics role are more likely to see an 8% salary boost; in contrast, those who remain in People Analytics see less than half that compensation growth. This dynamic implies that the skills of workforce analytics are highly valued, but perhaps the dedicated title has become less rewarded or even penalized by organizational budget cuts.

To secure career growth in this evolving environment, professionals must recognize that workforce analytics is no longer a siloed "specialist" function but rather a set of crucial, broadly distributed competencies required across all parts of Human Resources.

# Technology Acceleration

The potential for career growth in the broader data and analytics space remains exceptionally high, largely because technological advances are creating new analytical frontiers that demand specialized skills. The World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2025 firmly establishes that AI and big data are among the skills projected to see the fastest growth overall. This outlook drives the demand for roles that support this transformation. For instance, jobs categorized as AI and Machine Learning Specialists rank among the fastest-growing occupations by percentage.

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning are transforming workforce analytics by increasing efficiency and revealing previously hidden data patterns. More than 60% of HR decision-makers plan to integrate AI and automation into their processes within the next five years. This isn't just about automation; it’s about deeper insight generation. AI-backed tools facilitate sophisticated analysis through capabilities like Natural Language Processing (NLP), which can convert meeting dialogue into text for efficient term scanning, and ML-driven chatbots that assist recruitment.

The integration of AI is forcing a structural rethinking of talent strategy. For example, in the realm of strategic workforce planning, companies are now analyzing Human vs. AI Workloads to make precise decisions on task allocation, moving beyond simple automation to complex complementarity. Furthermore, as organizations prepare for Agentic AI—systems capable of independent action—analysts are needed to redefine job descriptions and responsibility boundaries between humans and these autonomous systems.

The increasing reliance on data permeates everything, making data literacy a core expectation across the board. Data literacy is increasingly viewed as "the new workplace currency," and 39% of the key job skills in the U.S. are expected to change by 2030 due to this shift. This pervasive need for data interpretation suggests that while dedicated analyst roles may contract due to economic scrutiny, the demand for analytical competence within all HR and business roles is surging.

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# Shifting Focus Areas

The nature of the work itself is changing, moving from backward-looking reporting to forward-looking foresight, which demands new specializations within the field.

# Predictive Insights

A major area driving demand is the need to address organizational instability proactively. Managing turnover remains a top concern, with nearly two-thirds of global employers struggling to fill open positions due to skills shortages. Consequently, predictive analytics has become essential for forecasting attrition and flagging employees at high risk of leaving. By modeling historical data—like tenure, performance, and engagement—leaders can intervene with targeted retention strategies before talent walks out the door.

# Skills Centrality

The continuous evolution of the work environment has elevated skills analytics from a supplementary function to a strategic imperative. Organizations are actively seeking real-time insights into their workforce capabilities to identify misalignment and skill gaps. This requires a skills-first approach, utilizing unified taxonomies to manage skills inventory and power internal talent marketplaces.

This focus has created demand for advanced measurement techniques. For instance, organizations are prioritizing new metrics such as the Skill Adjacency Index (measuring a candidate's related skills for future roles) and the Skill Evolution Readiness Score (gauging adaptability). These metrics require analytical professionals who can integrate real-time learning and market data into planning.

# Location Specificity

Another significant analytical shift involves geography. The outdated practice of simply following a company’s headquarters when planning talent pools is fading. Instead, Geographic Intelligence is a top priority, with 67% of organizations now focusing on location-specific talent analytics. Analyzing local and nearby talent pools allows companies to pinpoint micro-talent hotspots—such as emerging tech hubs—to secure critical talent, potentially realizing cost savings and faster hiring cycles due to lower competition in those specific areas.

# Employee Experience Measurement

Employee Experience (EX) analysis is another area of intense focus, employing both qualitative and quantitative data to assess the entire employee lifecycle. In 2023, 47% of HR Directors cited EX as their top concern. This focus is justified by hard metrics: effectively engaging employees correlates with a 41% reduction in absenteeism and a 17% amplification in productivity. Analytics helps pinpoint specific policy or cultural elements that are either aiding or hindering the employee journey.

If we view the field through the lens of People Analytics—which builds detailed portraits of individual employees using varied data sources—its power lies in personalization, from custom career paths to targeted development plans.

# Career Paths and Core Skills

The growth of the application of workforce analytics directly correlates with the durability of the underlying skills. While the landscape has seen job title contraction, the fundamental analytical capabilities remain highly sought after.

# Enduring Analytical Skills

The most important non-technical skill remains Analytical Thinking, which seven out of ten companies surveyed consider essential for 2025. Alongside this, Data Literacy—the ability to interpret and act on massive data volumes (estimated at 182 zettabytes by 2025 in the U.S. alone)—is crucial across industries.

For those building a career in this space, mastery is shifting. Professionals are moving away from administrative reporting and toward strategic leadership by translating data into business intelligence. Key roles that blend this analytical acumen with human insight include:

• HR Data Analyst
• People Analytics Specialist
• Human Resources Analyst
• Finance Analytics Professional (integrating HR and finance data)

The WEF report highlights that as job roles transform, analytical thinking and resilience, flexibility, and agility are anticipated to rise sharply in importance over the next five years. Furthermore, skills like curiosity and lifelong learning are also in high demand as they support the necessary upskilling.

# Future-Proofing a Career

For professionals looking to thrive despite the market friction observed in dedicated job postings, a proactive approach to skill embedding is necessary. Consider the finding that HR Business Partners often incorporate people analytics responsibilities into their roles, and that leaving People Analytics for a non-PA HR role can result in better salary growth.

An actionable tip for current or aspiring analysts is to focus less on owning the "People Analytics" title and more on becoming the embedded data translator within a specific HR function, such as Talent Acquisition or Total Rewards. For example, instead of just reporting turnover numbers, use predictive modeling to quantify the Reskilling ROI you could achieve by redeploying at-risk talent, directly connecting your analysis to the financial metrics cited as important in strategic workforce planning.

This shift means intentionally developing proficiency in areas that drive immediate, measurable business impact, ensuring the function is seen as indispensable, not disposable when costs tighten.

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# Defining Value

The market fluctuation seen in recent years—where people analytics roles seemed disproportionately sensitive to rising interest rates compared to core HR functions like payroll specialists—underscores the need to redefine the field’s value proposition. To ensure career growth continues regardless of economic conditions, analysts must consciously break the linkage between their function's success and external variables.

The focus must shift entirely to driving organizational value, rather than mirroring prestige projects of the past. When HR decisions are guided by data and strengthened by emerging technologies like AI, the organization gains the clarity needed for agility, fairness, and high performance. Professionals who can effectively communicate how their analyses directly improve areas like talent attraction, workforce design for the AI era, or reskilling execution will be the ones who see their careers expand, even if the headcount in narrowly defined "People Analytics" teams plateaus or contracts temporarily. The future of careers in workforce analytics is not about the existence of the function, but the ubiquity and demonstrable impact of the data skills it champions.