Introduction: Human Resource Management Innovation and Practice in a Digital Age

The Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) and Fifth Industrial Revolution (5IR) are trans-forming work, workplaces, skills, and careers globally (Kolade & Owoseni, 2022). For instance, Dhakal (2025) contends that the 4IR has fundamentally changed the nature of work and workplaces and posits that the "5IR builds on 4IR, driven by opportunities for collaborative and cooperative synergies between humans and technologies, where work, workers, and workplaces contribute to improving the economy, environment, and society" (p. 2). Although emerging technologies either displace or augment jobs, generating new skills and creating additional employment opportunities, the speed of technological innovations and their rapid spread have been felt globally, across all sectors and industries. Consequently, it has generated discussion around the future of work and the distribution of benefits and costs associated with the transformation process. What is clear is that these emerging technologies are disruptive and require proactive human resource management (HRM) intervention programs to manage change and the impact on the workforce (Nankervis et al., 2021). Technological disruptions have already had an impact on professions and training, with Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications performing tasks associated with a multitude of professions (Cascio & Montealegre, 2016; Murire, 2024). For example, this disruption has spread to HRM processes, with AI and other advanced decision-making tools increasingly replacing HRM practices and protocols (Vrontis et al., 2023).