The State of the Workplace 2026: Workers’ Needs and How HR Can Meet Them
February 18, 2026 1:00 PM ET
In 2026, organizations face pressing challenges amid economic uncertainty, rapid technological change, and evolving employee expectations. Successfully navigating these challenges hinges on understanding evolving workplace dynamics, fostering adaptability, and prioritizing employee well-being.
This webinar will delve into SHRM’s latest State of the Workplace research, which surveyed over 1,800 HR professionals and 2,000 U.S. workers to uncover critical insights into the alignment — or misalignment — between workers’ needs and employers’ priorities. Attendees will understand the most critical workplace needs for 2026, viewed alongside the priorities that CHROs and CEOs are setting for the year. The webinar will highlight actionable insights to help HR professionals and leaders close gaps, anticipate challenges, and shape a stronger workplace strategy.
SHRM Knowledge Advisors will join the live webinar to answer your questions in real time—right in the chat. If we don’t get to your question during the session? No problem, SHRM members can head to SHRM Connect after this webinar to keep the conversation going with advisors for 30 extra minutes. This benefit is only for members who join the live webinar and not included later on demand.
Meet the Presenters
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James Atkinson
James Atkinson, Ph.D., is the Vice President of Thought Leadership at SHRM, where he leads research teams uncovering key insights on the challenges and trends affecting HR and the workplace. Atkinson joined SHRM with more than 15 years of research, data, and product experience, having spent a decade in various leadership roles within the HR industry. Prior to SHRM, Atkinson was the Vice President of Data Products at Payscale, where he was responsible for the overall strategy, development, and delivery of data products for compensation professionals.
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Derrick Scheetz
Derrick Scheetz, SHRM-CP, is a Lead Researcher with SHRM’s Thought Leadership team. Since joining SHRM in 2018, Scheetz has led research initiatives focusing on critical topics impacting all things work, worker and the workplace. His research has explored the connection between HR functional maturity and business outcomes, SHRM’s Civility Index, HR executive strategic priorities, second-chance hiring, employee benefits, HR benchmarking metrics, and more. His work has been published in HR Quarterly and the People + Strategy Journal and has been featured in leading business outlets including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and Fortune. Derrick holds a Master of Science degree in applied psychology with an industrial/organizational psychology concentration from the University of Baltimore.
SHRM certification has approved this webinar for 1 PDC toward SHRM-CP or SHRM-SCP recertification. A program code will be provided at the end of the webinar.