Middle East CHROs Under Pressure to Drive Growth While Cutting Costs, Korn Ferry Report Finds
As business transformation accelerates across the region, Korn Ferry’s latest CHRO Survey 2025 reveals that senior HR leaders in the Middle East are under mounting pressure to deliver growth and innovation while cutting costs and driving productivity.
Drawing on insights from more than 750 global HR executives, including 197 leaders from the Middle East, Europe, and Africa, the report offers a timely snapshot of how the CHRO role is evolving in response to intensifying external challenges.
Key Findings from Korn Ferry’s 2025 CHRO Study
Top External Threats Impacting Business (Next 2 Years)
- Economic uncertainty – 60%
- Labor and skills shortages – 39%
- Technology changes (including AI) – 37%
- Political uncertainty – 35%
- Regulatory changes – 35%
- Competitive innovation – 23%
- Changing consumer behaviors – 21%
- M&A – 16%
Top Strategic Focus Areas in the Middle East
- Growth & Market Expansion – 83%
- Cost efficiency and productivity – 80%
- AI and Technology adoption – 62%
Transformation Readiness
- Only 40% of organizations incorporate disruptive ideas and innovative practices.
- 60% say they struggle to move away from old ways of thinking.
Leadership Alignment Challenges
- 30% of CHROs report that their leadership teams are not aligned with transformation needs.
Top CHRO Priorities for 2025
- Culture and Organizational Change
- Leadership Succession
- Elevating HR Capability and Impact
- Developing a Competitive People Strategy & EVP
- Skills Development
Other Key Regional Highlights from the CHRO 2025 Report
- A strong emphasis on leadership succession, culture change, and HR capability elevation.
- An urgent need to upskill talent for future growth, despite only 48% of CHROs saying they know the skills needed for the future.
- 66% of CHROs say they must update their EVP (Employee Value Proposition) to attract next-gen talent.
- Despite growing AI investment, only 5% of HR teams say they are well-prepared to integrate it, with 0% saying they are “fully prepared.”
In the Middle East, these pressures are amplified by ambitious national agendas around AI adoption, Emiratisation, and digital transformation. CHROs are at the center of executing change at scale, re-architecting talent strategies to match aggressive growth and workforce development plans.
“CHROs in the Middle East are operating at the sharpest edge of transformation. As governments push bold digital, economic, and workforce agendas, HR leaders are no longer just enablers; they are architects of growth, culture, and capability,” said Jonathan Holmes, Managing Director, Middle East, Turkey & Africa at Korn Ferry. “This report confirms what we’re seeing on the ground: CHROs are expected to deliver more with less, lead with both empathy and agility, and reimagine how organizations attract, retain, and reskill talent for a very different future.”
The full CHRO report is now available on the website: https://www.kornferry.com/ae/insights/chro-survey-2025?utm_source=news&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=25-08-uae-brand-pu&utm_content=awa
