May reflections: sun, scrutiny, and the strain beneath

May arrived with warmth and stayed long into the evenings. I spent part of it in Portugal - a few days of sun, sea, and slowing down. It was my first time trying a Pastel de nata, and I can now say with some certainty: it won’t be the last. That crisp, buttery shell and gently sweet custard was a small revelation. There’s something grounding about discovering a new favourite in a new place - the kind of moment that leaves a quiet impression long after the trip ends.

But back home, the rhythm was different. Not heavier, exactly - but more urgent. May brought with it a shift in national mood, in employment policy, and in my own reflections on the pace and pressure HR teams are expected to hold. And the question I kept returning to is this: have we reached the point where HR can no longer cope in the way we’re expected to?

A quick tour of UK headlines: May 2025

Politically, May didn’t explode - it eroded. Quietly, steadily. The local elections at the start of the month brought a sharp turn, with Reform UK making significant gains and capturing the Runcorn & Helsby by-election by a handful of votes. The message from the electorate wasn’t just discontent - it was displacement. People are looking for new anchors, and it’s showing up in how they vote.

In response, Labour brought forward its long-anticipated immigration white paper. The proposals were blunt: stronger English requirements, longer timeframes before permanent settlement, and an end to visas for overseas care workers. There was talk of “cohesion” and “fairness”, but the undertone was unmistakable - a harder line that will ripple across public service and care sectors already stretched to the limit. Employers will need to readjust, again, to fill essential roles with fewer options and tighter scrutiny.

Elsewhere, the government quietly passed the Great British Energy Act, laying the foundation for a publicly owned green energy provider. It’s a long-term move in a short-attention-span climate, but it signals intent - and a new layer of state complexity that could have future implications for recruitment, pay structures, and industrial relations.

Employment law was also moving. The Employment Rights Bill continued its slow path through the House of Lords, with debates intensifying around harassment definitions, longer grievance periods, and strengthened day-one rights for workers. At the same time, the employment tribunal backlog remained close to 50,000 unresolved claims. Justice is delayed. HR, once again, finds itself caught in the gap - expected to manage risk upstream while waiting for resolution downstream.

Put together, May’s news didn’t announce a new era. But it did shift the floor slightly. It’s the kind of month that doesn’t demand reaction - but absolutely demands attention.

The real focus: is HR pacing itself out?

What stuck with me this month - louder than any one headline - was the exhaustion. Not personal burnout, although that exists too. But structural fatigue. A sense that HR, as a function, is being asked to hold too much with too little.

We’re expected to carry the legal changes. Understand the AI. Translate policy into behaviour. Coach the leaders. De-escalate the grievance. Stay across immigration shifts. And at the same time, be the voice of empathy, clarity, and strategic calm.

And we do it - most of the time. But I’m starting to wonder: at what cost?

The Employment Rights Bill, for example, doesn’t just add new obligations - it reshapes the timeline of HR’s involvement. “Day one rights” mean more decisions sooner. More checks. More documentation. More responsibility before you’ve had a chance to properly onboard someone.

The immigration tightening, particularly around care work, removes a route many HR teams have relied on - especially in sectors with stubborn vacancies and unattractive domestic pipelines. The new policy doesn’t just restrict visas - it reshapes how we think about resourcing altogether. There’s a recalibration coming. And HR will be expected to lead it.

Meanwhile, the tribunal backlog places even more pressure on in-house teams to resolve early, hold difficult conversations skilfully, and manage documentation to within an inch of its life. The message is clear: avoid litigation, but be ready if it comes. The margin for error is shrinking.

I’m not suggesting HR is broken. But I am suggesting we may have reached the edge of what’s sustainable. We’ve become the pressure valve for the organisation - absorbing complexity, translating ambiguity, and absorbing risk. But valves wear down. And when they do, the system shakes.

So maybe it’s time we said it plainly: HR cannot be all things to all people, all the time. And the sooner organisations hear that, the better chance we have of protecting what’s most valuable — not just our teams, but our effectiveness.

Portugal, and a pastry worth travelling for

In the middle of all that - thankfully - I had a break. A few days in Portugal with friends. A change of pace, and light that stretched long into the evening.

It was my first time trying a Pastel de nata. It won’t be my last. There’s something perfect about that bite - simple, textured, balanced. The kind of thing you don’t rush. The kind of thing you remember.

It reminded me that joy doesn’t have to be dramatic. It can be found in quiet discoveries, in familiar laughter, in the shape of a slow morning. In a month where the weight of HR felt heavier than usual, that small moment was a reminder: rest isn’t optional - it’s fuel.

A closing thought

May sharpened the contrast: between stretch and stillness, pace and permission. We ask HR to operate at pace, with clarity, across legal, emotional, strategic, and operational terrain. That’s fine - until it isn’t.

If we want HR to stay effective, we have to stop treating resilience as infinite. We need to pare back. Reset boundaries. Say no, when no is what’s needed. And we need to design functions that are not just compliant, but sustainable.

Because when HR breaks - the organisation feels it. But when HR is cared for, resourced, and empowered? That’s when the real work gets done.

So here’s to lighter evenings, flaky pastries, and permission to pace ourselves - before the pressure makes that decision for us.