People Leader Moves.

Each quarter we read the Form 8-K filings, under Item 5.02, in which a US public company names its Chief Human Resources Officer, Chief People Officer or an equivalent top people seat. Every move below is a named person in one of those filings, and each row links to the filing itself.

Over 5 quarters, July 2025 to September 2026, 53 companies reported 66 changes in the top people seat. The latest quarter, Q3 2026, holds 10 moves at 8 companies.

Quarter by quarter

• Q3 202610 moves at 8 companies: 7 departures, 3 appointments
• Q2 202616 moves at 14 companies: 11 departures, 5 appointments
• Q1 202616 moves at 14 companies: 9 departures, 7 appointments
• Q4 202516 moves at 12 companies: 10 departures, 6 appointments
• Q3 20258 moves at 6 companies: 5 departures, 3 appointments

Departures and appointments are counted side by side. A company must file when a named executive officer leaves, and chooses whether to file a new people leader’s appointment, so the two columns measure different things.

Every move

What the filings call the seat

Across the 66 moves, the filings name the seat Chief Human Resources Officer 43 times, Chief People Officer 19 times, Executive Vice President, Human Resources twice, Chief People and Culture Officer once and Chief Talent Officer once.

Sectors follow each company’s SEC industry code, grouped the way NHL’s rooms are named. Life sciences, technology and consumer moves each have a page of their own.

How this is counted

US public companies file a Form 8-K, Item 5.02, within four business days when a named executive officer leaves, and some also file one when they appoint a new people leader, which for a CHRO or Chief People Officer is their choice. We search those filings for the usual titles of the top people seat (Chief Human Resources Officer, Chief People Officer and their variants), and count each appointment and departure once, in the quarter it was first filed. A company appears twice when a departure and a successor are filed together.

A move counts when the filing names the person and the seat. When a company names a move only in an attached press release, or without a name, a person reads the filing before it counts.

Read the counts as what companies disclosed in these filings. Many changes in the top people seat are announced only in a press release, or never filed: a company must report a departing named executive officer, and chooses whether to report a new people leader. A filing that gives the seat an unusual title, or reports the move under another item, can also be missed. So the list holds more departures than appointments, and fewer moves than the market.

Where a filing says where a new leader came from, or whether they had held the seat before, the table says so. Where it does not, the cell stays blank.

Source: SEC EDGAR, Form 8-K Item 5.02 filings, July 1, 2025 to September 30, 2026. Compiled by Next Horizon Leadership.

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