Managing the 5Rs in
a rapidly changing environment
Recruitment, retention, reskilling, reorganisation, redundancies
April 2026
Australian organisations are navigating an amplified level of workforce change. New AHRI research shows employers are increasingly managing the ‘5Rs’ – recruitment, retention, reskilling, reorganisation and redundancies at the same time – not as isolated activities, but as a coordinated response to economic uncertainty, skills disruption and rapid technological change.
This report explores how Australian organisations are applying the ‘5Rs’, where current practice remains uneven, and what HR leaders can do to better coordinate workforce decisions that support performance, capability and employee outcomes.
Summary of Key Findings
Employers estimate the average cost of replacing an employee to be around $28,500.
The use of more advanced recruitment tools remains limited, with only 16 per cent of organisations using AI-assisted application review and around 12 per cent using AI-assisted CV screening.
26 per cent of organisations report adopting three of the 5Rs in combination, with high-performing organisations slightly more likely to be undertaking four of these workforce adjustments simultaneously.
Around two thirds of organisations report undertaking at least one significant reorganisation in the past three years.
Where redundancies are occurring, they are most commonly driven by restructuring (68 per cent) and cost-cutting (41 per cent).
For media enquiries, please contact:
Madeleine Hanley
Head of Media Relations, FleishmanHillard
M +61 423 366 918 | E [email protected]