Top consultant Josh Bersin says HR leaders are at a pivotal moment and should rethink their role in the corporate world

If you’re a mover and shaker in HR circles, it’s hard to miss Josh Bersin. 

He’s a longtime fixture in the community, and an influential voice on human resource strategy, weighing in on topics ranging from AI’s emergence in the workplace to pay equity.

Originally founding his own HR consulting firm decades ago, he sold it to Deloitte where he was a partner for five years, and then became an independent consultant once more. For the past three years, he’s also hosted an annual closed-door conference, which begins today, that attracts CHROs from around the world including executives from Coca-Cola, IBM and Delta. 

I sat down with Bersin before the big event to get his thoughts on everything related to HR. Previous major challenges of the last few years like the Great Resignation and the COVID pandemic may be receding, but he says CHROs still have their work cut out for them, including navigating the labor tug-of-war between workers and managers, high expectations of Gen Z workers, and the boom of specialists within the larger HR umbrella.

Overall, though, Bersin’s main message to CHROs and people executives today is that they’re facing a pivotal moment. So rather than considering all of their individual challenges as a smorgasbord of troubles, they should take the opportunity to totally reimagine their careers, and the industry in general.

“They have to think about their jobs differently,” he told me. “And to some degree, that means not only as an HR function, but also as the whole people operation in the company.”

You can read more of the main takeaways from my interview with Bersin here.

Paige McGlauflin
paige.mcglauflin@fortune.com
@paidion

Today’s edition was curated by Emma Burleigh.

Around the Table

A round-up of the most important HR headlines.

- Aircraft fuel supplier Spirit AeroSystems will cut 400 to 450 jobs as its biggest client, Boeing, struggles with slowed production. Wall Street Journal

- The unemployment gap between workers with and without a bachelor's degree is the narrowest it's ever been. Bloomberg

- Finance and consulting companies in the U.K. have rescinded job offers to international workers after the government raised the salary threshold for skilled worker visas to deter legal migration. Financial Times

- Workers at two Mercedes-Benz factories in Alabama lost the vote to unionize after Republican leaders argued organizing would hurt industry investment. New York Times

Watercooler

Everything you need to know from Fortune.

Planet protectors. Nearly half of Gen Z and millennial workers have quit their jobs or plan to do so over climate worries, and most consider a company’s environmental policies when applying, according to a report. —Orianna Rosa Royle

Spies and lies. The North Korean government deployed thousands of information tech workers to live abroad on stolen U.S. identities and work at Fortune 500 companies to collect sensitive information. —Eric Tucker, AP

Cultivating creativity. Investment giant BlackRock says it's branching out to hire liberal arts majors, citing a need for diversity of thought. —Chloe Berger