Back to the Future: A 2024 HR Technology Conference Preview Post
This is actually my first HR Technology Conference for the past few years; I had, for sundry reasons, been blacklisted from what had become, for me at least, a seminal event, and I’m relieved to be back at the Mandalay Bay for the 2024 edition of this venerable trade show – and grateful, too.
After all, in a world where the only constant is change, there’s something inherently reassuring about an event that’s more or less the exact same thing each and every year, or at least in the 15 or so years I’ve been following the HR Technology Conference.
The vendors’ names may change (for example, at some point, Peoplesoft became Workday; Zenefits became Rippling; and Bersin by Deloitte became Josh Bersin and Associates, but with more realistic audio animatronic analysts), and the buzzwords may be a bit different (at some point, “big data” became “AI”), but the tools, topics and tactics remain largely unchanged over the past decade or so.
It’s like the trade show version of a living museum, a Colonial Williamsburg of capitalism; stepping on the expo floor is like stepping back in time, and for me, I’m immediately transported back to my early twenties, back when all this felt new and my cynicism was still a bug, not a feature.
They say you can’t go home again, and while that may be true, you can always go to Vegas, instead.
Where We’re Going, We Don’t Need Roadmaps
This year, like every year, inevitably, the details may differ slightly from previous iterations, but the one overarching theme will be some variation of the “future of work,” which makes sense for an industry perpetually trapped in the past. The “future of work,” in context, represents an invariably dystopian near future that, like a 70s sci-fi movie, manages to be simultaneously speculative and anachronistic.
The irony, of course, is that the “future of work ” looks suspiciously like today; of course, it’s far less easy to fix the current challenges and persistent problems facing the HR profession in the short term than it is to look ahead at the promise of tomorrow, a time when, maybe, our industry may finally achieve its unrealized potential and make good on its unfulfilled promises.
But for now, the “future of work” remains more product marketing than paradigm shift. Here are a few talking points to expect before you actually enter the echo chamber, broken down by category.
Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
1. Artificial Intelligence: Don’t Believe the Hype
If there’s one trend you’ll hear about ad nauseam, it’s AI. If you aren’t already sick of hearing about AI, well, then give it a week.
From scheduling interviews to assessing candidates’ “cultural fit” (whatever that means), every vendor will slap the term “AI” onto their product. The pitch will be that automation and machine learning will save HR from the drudgery of human interaction, except they’ll conveniently omit the fact that these systems are about as unbiased as the people programming them.
Whether it’s AI-based chatbots that respond like they’re reading from a 2009 FAQ or predictive analytics tools that claim to identify the “best fit” but end up reinforcing the same biases we’ve been battling for years, expect to see vendors doing everything they can to sell the illusion of progress.
What this really tells us about the future of hiring: Employers will be more removed from the human aspects of hiring, while machines, trained on historical data laced with bias, will continue perpetuating the very problems we hoped AI would solve.
2. Talent Acquisition Platforms: Same Products, Different Packaging
Then there’s the crowd that will try to convince you they’ve reinvented the wheel—again. This year’s iteration of talent acquisition platforms will be the same thing you’ve seen for the last decade, just with a prettier interface and a few new features no one asked for. Integrated sourcing tools, ATS systems with more buttons, and CRM functionality that’s as personalized as an automated birthday email—these vendors are the used car salespeople of HR Tech. “But this one’s *different*,” they’ll say, as they add another layer of automation that adds zero value to an already bloated process.
Expect to hear phrases like “frictionless recruitment” or “total talent solutions.” What these platforms actually do, though, is make the recruiting process even more impersonal, burying candidates under layers of technology while convincing recruiters they’re doing meaningful work by clicking buttons in a dashboard.
The future of hiring, according to these folks: a recruitment experience so polished and soulless that nobody remembers why we wanted more automation in the first place. If you want to see what the future of hiring looks like under this model, just imagine a recruiter staring at a dashboard, waiting for the magic numbers to tell them who to hire.
3. Employee Experience: Don’t Hate the Players…Hate the Gamification
Next, there’s the category of vendors focusing on “employee experience,” which is basically HR Tech’s attempt to borrow from the gaming industry and apply it to corporate America. You’ll see endless platforms claiming to improve engagement, retention, and productivity through features like “points-based recognition systems,” virtual badges, and other superficial incentives. These solutions promise to fix the problem of disengagement in the workforce by turning jobs into some twisted version of a mobile game where employees collect gold stars and virtual high fives instead of real raises or meaningful work.
The real future of hiring this technology points to? Employees will be gamified into submission, motivated not by the promise of career advancement or purpose but by shiny distractions that do little to mask the lack of real fulfillment in their work lives.
4. Wellness Platforms: Tech Bandaids on Deep Wounds
Another booming category will be “wellness” tech—because nothing says we care about your mental health like an app that reminds you to meditate between Zoom meetings. These vendors will tell you that their solutions can combat burnout, improve work-life balance, and foster a culture of well-being. It’s cute, really.
Wellness platforms give companies a convenient way to look like they care while ignoring the actual structural issues that lead to burnout, disengagement, and stress in the first place.
These tech offerings are less about well-being and more about optics. HR departments get to pat themselves on the back for investing in “wellness” while asking employees to do more with less, all while receiving periodic reminders to breathe deeply and practice gratitude. It’s a perfect microcosm of how modern companies address systemic problems with cosmetic fixes.
The future of hiring based on this trend? A workplace where employees are still overworked and under appreciated, but now they have an app to tell them it’s okay.
5. DEI Tools: Performative Progress and Virtue Signaling at Scale
Let’s not forget Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). A significant section of the conference floor will be dedicated to tech vendors selling DEI solutions designed to make companies look diverse without actually doing the hard work of changing their cultures. You’ll see platforms that promise to eliminate bias from job descriptions, track diversity metrics, or offer unconscious bias training in bite-sized modules.
On the surface, these tools seem like they’re addressing the right issues. However, the reality is that the adoption of DEI tech is often more about corporate window-dressing than genuine change. After all, no tech tool can overhaul a company’s deeply entrenched biases or its willingness to maintain a status quo that’s more comfortable for some than others.
The future of hiring here? Diversity will be measured by dashboard metrics instead of meaningful representation, while the actual work of fostering equity and inclusion will continue to take a back seat to maintaining appearances.
This is probably why, after all, the conference has a full day dedicated to “Women in HR Technology,” which is badly needed in an industry whose trade group is SHRM. Finally, a safe space for women in a profession that’s almost 75% female.
6. Blockchain for HR: Because Why Not?
If you wander the expo floor long enough, you’ll inevitably stumble across a booth or two promising to revolutionize HR with blockchain. Yes, blockchain—the same technology behind cryptocurrencies that no one really understands. These vendors will claim their blockchain solutions can streamline everything from payroll to identity verification, creating secure, tamper-proof records that will somehow eliminate fraud and increase transparency.
What they won’t tell you is that most HR departments don’t even know how to use the HR tech they already have, let alone integrate a blockchain-based system that adds complexity without clear benefits. But blockchain is trendy, and in the world of HR tech, being trendy often matters more than being practical.
The future of hiring, according to this? A brief flirtation with blockchain until it’s replaced by the next buzzword that will make HR execs feel like they’re on the cutting edge of something they don’t really understand.
If you can’t beat them…join me on Wednesday at the Findem booth.
HR Technology Conference: See You There?
At the end of the day, the HR Technology Conference will give us a glimpse into a future that’s eerily similar to the present, just with different branding and booths.
There will be a parade of vendors pitching tools that promise to solve all of HR’s problems—tools that will ultimately only add more complexity, distance us further from meaningful human connection, and perpetuate the same issues they claim to fix.
If the future of hiring looks anything like what will be on display in Vegas, we should all brace ourselves for more of the same: more automation, more gamification, more empty promises, and, of course, more technology that adds little value but looks great in a demo. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Welcome back to the future.