The State of Workforce Planning in 2026 - Nick Kennedy - #182
About this episode
Nick Kennedy discusses the current state and future of workforce planning, highlighting key insights from the State of Workforce Planning Profession Report.
Thanks to HRBench for powering this episode. To find out more about the company building the future of people intelligence, reach out to book a demo at hrbench.com/directionallycorrect! Check out this episode of the #1 people analytics podcast with special guest, Nick Kennedy, CEO of The Workforce Planning Institute! In this timely conversation, Cole Napper and Nick dive deep into the State of Workforce Planning Profession Report, revealing key insights on growth and challenges. The report shows massive variability in team sizes with no standard model—some 10,000-employee organizations run teams of six while smaller ones have just one or two. Job ads indicate strong expansion, post-COVID recovery, and 166% growth in APAC driven by aging workforce focus, local training, and Australian pioneers like Alicia Roach and Peter House. Nick explains why executive buy-in remains hard: SWP needs direct senior leader access, which layers dilute in massive firms. Midsize organizations around 50-100k employees often have larger median teams as they've matured the function longer, unlike giants still focused on operational planning. The episode explores centralized to federated…
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