Steering workforce management in the next three to five years: the CMI way

Over the next three to five years, workforce management will face significant change, shaped by evolving employee expectations, declining higher education enrolments and a reduced supply of candidates with both academic qualifications and practical experience. Younger professionals increasingly favour short-term roles, competitive starting salaries and rapid progression, making retention more complex.

To meet these challenges, managers must build sustainable talent pipelines, invest in continuous development, manage high entry-level expectations and adapt leadership styles to prioritise transparency, inclusivity and empathy.

By applying CMI’s values – professionalism, integrity, inclusivity and excellence – leaders can create resilient, skilled and committed teams, turning workforce instability into opportunities for long-term growth and innovation.

1. Recognising the changing employee mindset

Modern entrants to the workforce increasingly favour flexibility, personal fulfilment and rapid skills development over traditional job security. Many aim to collect diverse work experiences rather than committing to one organisation for years. Coupled with a drop in higher education participation rates, this creates a smaller pool of qualified candidates – especially those who also bring practical, industry-relevant expertise.

CMI’s value of professionalism requires a structured, forward-thinking approach to workforce challenges, rather than reacting hastily. Then integrity calls for honest, open conversations with prospective hires about growth paths and expectations.

2. Establishing a steady talent supply

To reduce their reliance on scarce external talent, organisations need to build their own pipelines by creating meaningful internships and apprenticeships that provide genuine workplace exposure. Also, it is important to improve collaboration with academic institutions to align curricula with industry needs. Embedding ongoing learning opportunities through workshops, professional qualifications and mentorship schemes, as well as proactive engagement with emerging talent, will ensure the workforce of the future is equipped with the right mix of knowledge and skills.

Here, the higher education sector will play a major role in improving the excellence of those applicants, which stems from consistently producing high-calibre, job-ready professionals. Also, institutional and organisational inclusivity needs to ensure opportunities are accessible to individuals from a variety of backgrounds.