In the global competition, engaged employees are more important than ever. Three central trends in human resources are: 1. Talent acquisition; 2. Managing the consequences of an aging workforce and demographic change; 3. Lifelong learning for companies and their employees. Employee motivation is influenced by various factors. Employees can be affected by factors in their work environment, such as leaders, their performance evaluations, their interest in the employee, and the individual development opportunities that companies offer to employees. An employee will only remain highly engaged as long as the benefits of their efforts outweigh the costs. Thus, trends such as learning organizations and employee development in times of demographic change can be identified.