Increase in Female CHRO
Leadership

CHRO Trends Report: It’s the Year of the Female

A new survey documents the changing face of human resources.

By the Editors of TalentQ

There were fewer female CEOs leading Fortune 200 companies in 2019, but human resources continued to see an insurgence. 

Last year, 78 percent of new chief human resource offers (CHROs) were female, according to CHRO Trends 2020, an annual report from Talent Strategy Group that documents HR changes, demographics, and changing priorities at the nation’s largest companies.

“This represents the largest percentage of female CHROs since the report’s inception three years ago,” says Zac Upchurch, chief operating officer at Talent Strategy Group and author of the report.

Overall representation of female CHROs at Fortune 200 companies increased from 60 to 67 percent between 2018 and 2019. 

Exactly half of outgoing CHROs were replaced with a person of the same gender (male for male or female for female), 43 percent saw a female replace a male CHRO, and just 7 percent saw a female CHRO replaced by a male CHRO.

Other key findings in the report: CHRO turnover is rising, internal succession is falling, and HR domain experience is more valuable than ever. 

Read the full CHRO Trends 2020 report here.