Workforce Agility in a Changing World: A Systematic Review and Future Research Agenda

ABSTRACT Workforce agility has emerged as a critical capability for organizations steering dynamic and uncertain business environments. This study presents a systematic literature review of 51 scholarly works to synthesize the conceptual, empirical, and methodological advancements in workforce agility research. The review identifies key contributing countries, influential authors, prevalent statistical techniques, and thematic clusters across 103 keywords and seven conceptual domains. Findings reveal that workforce agility is a multilevel construct shaped by distinct antecedents, mechanisms, and outcomes at the individual, group, and organizational levels. Despite the growing scholarly interest, particularly, in India, China, and the United States, the literature remains fragmented, with limited theoretical grounding and underrepresentation of cross‐cultural and longitudinal studies. The paper outlines theoretical contributions by mapping workforce agility to dynamic capabilities and behavioral frameworks and offers practical implications for managers in enhancing agility through digital transformation, agile HR practices, and leadership strategies. It also proposes future research directions focused on multilevel integration, sector‐specific insights, sustainability linkages, and digital‐age agility. By consolidating existing knowledge and highlighting research gaps, this review lays a foundation for advancing workforce agility as both an academic construct and a managerial priority.