Today's Human Resources Pulse
Greenhouse completes acquisition of Ezra AI Labs, adding voice‑AI interviewing
Greenhouse announced the completion of its acquisition of Ezra AI Labs, a voice‑AI interviewing platform. The technology enables on‑demand, role‑specific conversations that are scored against a uniform rubric, delivering transcripts and explainable evaluations. The deal expands Greenhouse’s structured hiring methodology to the earliest stage of the recruiting funnel.
Consecutive PIPs Were "Challenging", But Didn't Force Employee to Quit
The Fair Work Commission ruled that placing an employee on a second performance improvement plan (PIP) does not amount to constructive dismissal. Commissioner Sarah McKinnon found ING Bank continued to support the worker, showing no intention to end the employment relationship. The employee resigned voluntarily because he was unwilling to undergo the PIP process. The decision clarifies how section 365 of the Fair Work Act applies to general‑protections claims.
Employees Seek Stronger Support for Financial Needs, Report Finds
A Morgan Stanley at Work survey shows 74% of employees want their employers to play a larger role in addressing personal financial troubles, while 84% reported facing budgeting, goal‑setting or retirement challenges in the past year. More than half (53%)...
Dolfin Secures €2.1 Million Seed Funding to Replace Spreadsheet‑Based Sales Compensation
Barcelona‑based AI platform Dolfin raised €2.1 million ($2.3 million) in a seed round led by Swanlaab to eliminate spreadsheet‑driven sales compensation. The funding will accelerate product development and fuel expansion across Europe and the U.S., targeting firms that collectively generate over €851 million...
LinkedIn Report Shows AI Hiring Trends Favor Skills Over Degrees in 2026
LinkedIn’s Talent Velocity Report 2026 reveals that 93% of talent leaders now value human skills above degrees, while only 14% of firms are deemed AI‑ready. The data signals a rapid shift toward skill‑based hiring, internal mobility and real‑time talent visibility.
Study Finds Delayed Managerial Decisions Erode Employee Trust
A Symonds Research study released on May 18, 2026 reveals that managers who defer decisions on employee proposals erode trust, prompting workers to withdraw ideas and reduce discretionary effort. The findings highlight the hidden cost of managerial indecision for organizations...
AI Drives 25% of Recent Corporate Layoffs, UBS Report Shows
UBS’s latest analysis attributes one‑quarter of recent corporate layoffs to artificial intelligence, highlighting a new driver of workforce reductions. The finding signals a shift in talent management as firms balance automation gains against employee impact.
Trends of Pay Transparency Laws and Salary History Bans Continue to Grow — New Laws Enacted in Virginia, Maine, and...
A wave of state pay‑transparency legislation continues with Virginia, Maine and Delaware joining the ranks. Virginia’s law, effective July 1, 2026, bans salary‑history questions and forces employers to disclose wage ranges for every posting. Maine, effective July 29, 2026, requires pay ranges on all...
Off the Clock, Out of Compliance? Managing Wage-and-Hour Risk in Remote Workforces
Employers with remote or hybrid staff face heightened wage‑and‑hour exposure under the FLSA. Untracked off‑the‑clock work, incorrect overtime calculations, and employee misclassification can generate significant liability. Adding to the risk, remote workers often span multiple states, each with its own...
TTEC, Deloitte and Zoom Trim Benefits as AI Funding Takes Priority
TTEC, Deloitte U.S. and Zoom announced benefit reductions this week, with TTEC explicitly linking a pause in discretionary 401(k) matching to AI‑related investments. The moves raise questions about compensation strategy and employee engagement as firms prioritize technology transformation.
Former Trader Joe's Worker Sues, Says Employer Ignored Injuries and Punished EEOC Filing
Vanessa Kempf, a former Trader Joe’s crew member, filed a federal lawsuit alleging race discrimination, disability discrimination, and retaliation after reporting a physical assault and requesting ADA accommodations. The complaint details a pattern of heightened scrutiny, a reprimand three days after...
Kansas Court Lets Wealth Manager Keep Suing Former Executive over Noncompete Breach
A Kansas Court of Appeals affirmed Creative Planning’s breach‑of‑contract and tortious‑interference claims against former executive Stephen Greco and his startup, rejecting his free‑speech defense under the state’s anti‑SLAPP law. The ruling confirms that non‑compete, confidentiality and non‑disparagement agreements remain enforceable...
New Health App Aims to Connect Benefits, Medical Records and Advice
HealthBook+ has launched an app that consolidates employee benefits information, personal medical records, and AI‑driven triage via its partner Paige. The platform targets the 85% of workers who struggle to understand their benefits and aims to streamline care decisions. Early...
U.K. Employers’ Cost-Cutting Mindset Signals Trouble For Pay, Hiring And Growth
A CIPD survey of 2,049 UK employers shows cost management has eclipsed productivity and market‑share goals, pushing confidence to near‑record lows. Planned wage increases remain around 3% for the coming year, a level that trails most inflation forecasts. The Iran...
Seven Structured Frameworks Redefine How Candidates Answer “Why Should We Hire You?”
A fresh guide published on articleify.com introduces seven structured frameworks for job seekers to answer the dreaded “Why should we hire you?” question. The advice emphasizes risk mitigation, immediate impact, and confidence, aiming to shift candidates from generic responses to...
Empowering Manufacturing Leaders with Focused Priority Management
I had the opportunity to facilitate a leadership development workshop for ACH Food Companies, Inc., supporting leaders in the manufacturing industry with practical strategies for managing competing priorities, improving focus, and leading effectively in fast-paced environments. Through Impactful Management & Leadership...
Domain-Specific AI Is Rewriting the Rules of Workforce Management
Domain‑specific AI is reshaping workforce management by moving HR systems from static records to real‑time actions. Boomi’s integration platform is now embedded in UKG’s suite, allowing seamless data flow across payroll, scheduling and labor analytics. Executives highlight that payroll errors...
Hive Support Services Accelerates Digital People Transformation with Launch of WorkBee Platform
Hive Support Services has completed Phase One of its WorkBee rollout, an integrated HR, payroll and workforce management platform built on Dayforce. The system is now live in nine client organisations, delivering a unified, data‑driven people experience. Hive cites the...
New Research: 77% of Executives Say Managers Are Prepared to Guide AI Skills Development, While 91% of Employees Disagree
Acorn’s 2026 State of Learning for AI Fluency report surveyed over 1,200 professionals and found a stark gap between executive confidence and employee perception of AI readiness. While 77% of executives believe their managers can guide AI skill development, 91%...
SAS Daniels Offers Valued Insight on Employment Rights Act 2025
SAS Daniels, a Cheshire‑based law firm, is hosting a free online webinar on May 21 to demystify the Employment Rights Act 2025. The session follows a well‑attended in‑person briefing in Stockport and will cover the legislation’s core reforms, common misconceptions,...
Salesforce Freezes Engineering Hires, Spends $300M on Anthropic AI
Salesforce announced a hiring freeze for software engineers in 2025 and will allocate roughly $300 million to Anthropic AI tokens this year. The move accompanies a company‑wide redesign of roles, reskilling every employee to work alongside AI agents. The shift signals...
GM Cuts 600 IT Jobs to Accelerate AI Drive in Autonomous Vehicle Development
General Motors eliminated more than 600 salaried IT positions – over 10% of its department – to make room for AI‑focused hires. The move reflects a broader AI‑skills arms race in automotive manufacturing, where Ford, GM and Stellantis have collectively...
India’s New Labour Codes Prompt Salary‑Hike Re‑calibration, Threatening Take‑Home Pay Gains
Employers across India are adjusting April‑May appraisal increments to comply with freshly‑notified central labour codes and expanded tax‑exempt allowances. While headline raises average 8%, the revised wage definition means a sizable portion may be diverted to social‑security contributions, eroding take‑home...
Succession Planning: What Gets Missed When AI Takes All the Attention
HR leaders are fixated on AI adoption, leaving succession planning largely ignored. Only 21% of organizations have a formal succession plan, and 72% concentrate those plans solely on the C‑suite. A record 4.2 million Americans turned 65 in 2025, accelerating retirement‑driven...
Axonify Redefines Frontline Enablement with AI-Powered Platform to Deliver the Last Mile of Strategy
Axonify unveiled an AI‑enhanced Frontline Enablement Platform at the ATD 2026 conference, aiming to bridge the gap between learning and execution for frontline workers. The suite adds AI coaching, a conversational assistant, co‑creation tools, and automated rollout capabilities, all built...
Women Doctors Burdened by Unpaid Inbox and Billing Tasks
Women physicians do not have a productivity problem. They have a billing problem and an inbox problem. In an equal-staffed family medicine practice, women physicians received 26 percent more messages from patients than their male colleagues. The staff sent women...
Toxic Workplace Culture Undermines Health, Productivity, and Reputation
Fixing a Toxic Culture https://t.co/fm7wIMIXbW It negatively impacts employees’ mental/physical health - and productivity, job satisfaction. Leads to increased absenteeism, high turnover, low morale. For the business, it can lead to poor performance and a bad employer reputation. https://t.co/PCy8M7eCx1
Encore Global Team Launches to Help SMBs Scale with Structured Remote Hiring and Operational Support
Encore Global Team (EGT) launched today to help small and medium-sized businesses scale through structured remote hiring and operational support. The company offers executive‑led onboarding, workflow alignment, and continuous performance monitoring for remote professionals, primarily sourcing talent from the Philippines....
Remote Launches AI‑enabled Payroll Platform in Australia
Remote has unveiled an AI‑enabled payroll platform for Australian businesses, marking the company's first foray into the Oceania market. The launch aims to automate tax calculations, compliance reporting and employee self‑service, positioning Remote against established local payroll providers. While financial...
Some Employers Rethink 401(k) Matches Amid Financial Uncertainty
Technology services firm TTEC announced a nine‑month pause on its 3% 401(k) match for U.S. employees, citing uncertain business performance. The decision affects roughly 16,000 U.S. staff and mirrors a broader pattern of employers scaling back retirement contributions during economic...
The EEOC Wants to Kill the EEO-1. Here’s What Employers Should Do in the Meantime.
On May 14, 2026 the EEOC submitted a proposal to the White House’s OIRA to rescind the long‑standing EEO‑1 reporting requirement and several related workforce‑demographic filings. The proposal is still under review, with no final rule or timeline announced, so...
Corporate America Is Crushing Senior-Level Mothers. Here’s How They’re Coping
Senior‑level mothers are facing a perfect storm of intensified work demands and caregiving pressures, driving a wave of exits and burnout. In 2025, 42% of women who left the workforce cited caregiving, while 60% of senior women reported burnout versus...
How One Company Shrunk Its Performance Review Process From Eight Weeks to 48 Hours
Remote, the HR‑software provider, slashed its performance‑review cycle from eight weeks to just 48 hours after a three‑year overhaul led by Chief People Officer Barbara Matthews. The previous system suffered from rating inflation, misaligned expectations, and low trust, mirroring broader...
Your AI Strategy Is only as Strong as the People Who Run It
Recent surveys reveal that a majority of large professional services firms are abandoning AI projects because their staff lack the necessary skills. Deloitte’s 2026 State of AI report confirms insufficient worker expertise as the biggest barrier to enterprise AI adoption....
Retail HR Central Review – Busy and Exciting Times for HR
The Retail HR Central 2026 conference in Birmingham highlighted the turbulence facing retail HR, from 200,000 redundancies and 120,000 vacancies to rapid policy shifts and AI adoption. Speakers stressed the need for proactive role redesign, stronger employee‑metric programs, and close...
Where Can AI Make the Most Impact in Hiring?
AI adoption in recruiting jumped from 26% to 53% in the past year, yet many firms still shy away from using it for core hiring decisions. Most organizations apply AI only to routine tasks like resume filtering and job‑description writing,...
Stop Kicking Own Goals in Legal Recruitment
Employers in legal recruitment are losing candidates not because of salary, but due to slow, disorganized hiring processes. Prolonged interview stages, gaps in feedback, and unclear decision authority erode candidate momentum and allow competitors to swoop in. The article urges...
Industry Insider: Meike MacFarlane on Building Agile Talent in Lidl & Kaufland Asia’s Fast-Moving Supply Chain
Lidl & Kaufland Asia’s Chief People Officer Meike MacFarlane outlines how the retailer is building an agile, digitally‑savvy workforce across ten Asian markets. The firm relies on graduate trainee programmes, work‑study opportunities and diverse hiring to grow talent internally while reinforcing a...
Freshworks Shifts to Employee‑Experience Focus, Lifts 2028 Revenue Goal Above $1.3 B
Freshworks announced at its Refresh event that it is now an “EX‑first company” and raised its 2028 revenue target to more than $1.3 billion. The pivot places its Freshservice platform at the center of growth, with ARR expected to reach $1 billion...
HR Leaders Shift From AI Adoption to Redesigning Work Around It
Across Australia, the United States and the Philippines, HR leaders are moving from simply adding AI tools to fundamentally redesigning work processes around AI. New data shows a stark gap between executive AI ambition and middle‑manager execution, driving a rethink...
Meta 20 May Layoff: As ‘Doomsday’ Nears, Anxious Employees Stock up on Free Snacks, Chargers; Apply to Jobs Preemptively
Meta announced its first wave of layoffs for May 20, targeting up to 8,000 employees—roughly 10% of its global Facebook and Instagram workforce. The cuts follow a 2022‑23 restructuring that eliminated 21,000 jobs, but this round comes with a more generous...
Sixth Circuit Backs School District in Guide-Dog ADA Leave Dispute
The Sixth Circuit affirmed that Lakota Local School District did not violate the ADA when it denied paid sick leave to art teacher Andrea Tumbleson, who needed three weeks off for guide‑dog training, and instead offered unpaid leave as a...
Josh Bersin Report Predicts AI ‘Superagents’ Could Cut HR Headcount 30%
The Josh Bersin Company released a research report forecasting that AI‑powered “superagents” will slash core HR headcount by more than 30% and accelerate the rollout of AI‑driven recruiting and employee‑experience platforms. The analysis spotlights enterprise HCM suites and mid‑market all‑in‑one solutions...
Georgia GOP Gubernatorial Hopeful Rick Jackson Vows Statewide Ban on DEI
Republican billionaire Rick Jackson, a candidate for Georgia governor, has pledged to ban diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs across state government and public education. The promise comes even as his own nonprofit, goBeyondProfit, previously promoted DEI initiatives for Georgia...
The Education Delusion Is Costing You Talent…and It’s Fixable
Randy Gage warns that relying on academic credentials creates a hiring blind spot, as many graduates lack the critical thinking and value‑creation mindset businesses need. He argues the problem is not a talent shortage but a programming gap that costs...
Hiring Deal-Breakers in 2026: What Employers Should Know
Monster’s 2026 Job Search Deal‑Breakers Report, based on a survey of over 1,000 U.S. workers, reveals that candidates now reject vague job ads, lengthy interview processes, and opaque compensation. Sixty percent will not apply without a salary range, while more...
Upcoming Webcast: Best Practices for a Neuroinclusive Workplace
Centre for Corporate Health’s national director of psychological services, Rachel Clements, will host a webcast on best practices for a neuroinclusive workplace. The session will cover shifting mindsets from simple awareness to systemic design, integrating neuroinclusion during organizational change, and...
The Power of Strategic Leadership Sparring
Dr. Christian Marcolli introduces Strategic Leadership Sparring, a high‑intensity, trust‑based framework designed to accelerate "game‑changing" executives and elite athletes. The method replaces generic coaching with structured intellectual confrontation that dismantles assumptions, exposes blind spots, and pressure‑tests strategic decisions. Applied across Olympic...
New Job Postings Fell in April over International Fears
Employers in the UK pulled back on recruitment in April, with new job postings dropping 7.7% month‑on‑month to 711,733, according to the REC Labour Market Tracker. Despite the dip, total active postings remained robust at over 1.6 million, only 0.8% lower...
Anthropic Founder Calls for Emotional Intelligence as Hiring Priority, Sparking EI Resurgence
Anthropic co‑founder Daniela Amodei announced the AI firm will prioritize hiring people with strong emotional intelligence, a move that underscores a broader revival of EI as a critical skill for personal and professional growth. Cultural critics warn that the shift...
XPENG Puts Engineers First in EV Roadmap, Emphasizing Human‑Centric Culture
XPENG’s vice‑president and chief compliance officer Zheng Yeqing said the company’s technology roadmap is built around a human‑centric engineering culture, a move designed to attract top talent and accelerate innovation. The stance comes as Chinese EV makers race to secure...