Your weekly scan of the developments and trends shaping HR and HR technology, written for HR and people teams at European SMEs.
Big picture: the EU pay transparency clock has run out
The 7 June 2026 deadline to transpose the EU Pay Transparency Directive has passed, and the European Commission has confirmed there will be no pause and no extension. Implementation is uneven: only a handful of member states, including Slovakia, Italy, Lithuania and Malta, have final legislation in force, while Germany, France, the Netherlands and Spain have openly missed the deadline and several countries have signalled a delay to 1 January 2027. Legal advisers writing this month, including Lewis Silkin and Mayer Brown, are clear that employers should not wait for national rules to settle. The directive will require pay ranges to be shared in job adverts or before a first interview, give workers at an employer of any size the right to request pay data, and oblige organisations with 150 or more employees to begin gender pay gap reporting in 2027 using 2026 pay data.
Why it matters: even a 30-person company will need clean, defensible pay data and a consistent job structure. Building that now is far less painful than retrofitting it once your own country’s rules land.
On the radar
Skills-based hiring meets skillfishing. Skills-based hiring is now the dominant recruiting approach, with SHRM and others reporting that most recruiters prioritise capabilities over degrees. The flip side, flagged in SHRM’s 2026 recruiting analysis, is skillfishing: candidates exaggerating skills they don’t actually have. The practical response is to move verification earlier in the funnel, through structured assessments and competency-based interviews, rather than simply hiring faster.
AI in HR: adoption still lags the hype. SHRM’s State of AI in HR 2026 report finds that less than half of organisations will use AI in HR this year, with adoption concentrated in recruiting (27%), HR technology (21%) and learning and development (17%). Smaller organisations trail larger ones: around 33% of small firms have adopted AI in HR against 60% of the largest. SHRM points to a striking barrier: 67% of HR leaders say a lack of awareness of what AI can actually do is holding them back.
Engagement stuck at a record low. Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace 2026 reports that just 20% of employees were engaged in 2025, the second consecutive annual fall, which it links to around $10 trillion in lost global productivity. Gallup also finds that managers under 35 and female managers were hit hardest on stress and wellbeing. The more hopeful signal: employees who felt well recognised were 45% less likely to have left two years later.
Agentic AI moves from pilot to orchestration. Industry analysis from Deloitte and others describes 2026 as the year HR shifts from generative AI that assists to agentic AI that executes multi-step workflows, from drafting job descriptions to coordinating interviews and setting up new starters. Deloitte reports that 48% of large enterprises are already using agentic technologies. The consistent caveat across these sources is that humans must stay accountable for the judgment calls.
HR tech watch
2026 Top 100 HR Tech Influencers named. On 14 July 2026, HR Tech and HR Executive published their annual Top 100 HR Tech Influencers list, with 32 of the names appearing for the first time and a strong AI theme running through the selection. The announcement also flagged the HR Tech Conference, running 20 to 22 October 2026 at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, with early registration open until 31 July.
Wellbeing tooling shows results at scale. In SHRM’s July HR technology round-up, professional services firm Marsh McLennan reported using digital wellbeing tools to lift staff wellbeing and satisfaction across more than 20 000 employees. It’s a reminder that employee experience technology, not just recruiting AI, is where many measurable gains sit.
For SME HR teams
Three practical moves this week. Start documenting your pay bands and job structure now, even if your country hasn’t transposed the pay transparency rules yet, so you aren’t scrambling in 2027. Bring skills verification forward with a short, consistent assessment step rather than trusting CVs alone. And if you’re weighing AI, pick one narrow use case, most likely recruiting or learning, prove the time saved, then expand, rather than waiting for a perfect agentic platform. Alongside the technology, keep investing in recognition and skill-building: both are strongly linked to people staying.
Sources
- Lewis Silkin: EU Pay Transparency Directive 2026, no EU-level delay
- Mayer Brown: EU Pay Transparency Directive, practical briefing for international employers
- SHRM: The State of AI in HR 2026 report
- SHRM: The Download, HR Technology Trends, July 2026
- Gallup: State of the Global Workplace 2026
- GlobeNewswire: HR Tech and HR Executive reveal 2026 Top 100 HR Tech Influencers
- Deloitte Insights: Agentic AI strategy, Tech Trends 2026
HR Radar is a weekly informational summary of publicly reported HR and HR technology developments and trends. It is not legal or professional advice.
