Welcome to Paper Cut, where we cut through the week’s noise to bring you the sharpest insights in employer branding, talent acquisition, and HR.
This week, New York scrambles to hire laid-off federal workers, AI professionals are raking in premium salaries, and the return-to-office debate gets exposed for what it really is.
Plus, a viral recruitment campaign turns the usual hiring playbook upside down.
This Week’s Paper Cut's
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New York’s Unexpected Hiring Spree
🏛 NYC Wants to Hire Federal Workers Cut by ‘Doge’ Chaos
After last week’s federal shake-up, New York state is actively recruiting laid-off government employees, rolling out an aggressive campaign to snap up displaced talent. It’s a rare case of a local government seizing an opportunity from a crisis, but will it work?
Jessica Moore
Brooklyn Eagle Staff
The Job Market: Strong, but Shifting
📊 February Jobs Report Drops: What It Means for Hiring
The latest U.S. jobs report shows steady employment growth, but under the surface, hiring is cooling. While layoffs aren’t surging, companies are pulling back on aggressive hiring plans, a sign that the talent market may be shifting.
Alicia Wallace
AI Talent Is Getting Expensive
💰 Employers Are Paying Big for AI Skills, Is It Sustainable?
Salaries for AI professionals are skyrocketing, with companies offering premium pay to attract top talent. The demand for AI skills is undeniable, but how long can employers keep paying these premiums before the bubble bursts?
Ginger Christ
📌 Read more:
Return-to-Office: The Real Story
🚪 The Truth Behind RTO Mandates, It’s Not About Collaboration
A new report exposes the real reasons behind return-to-office mandates, and spoiler alert: it’s not about teamwork. From power dynamics to empty commercial real estate, the push to get workers back in-office has little to do with productivity.
Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic
Viral Employer Branding Moment
🚀 ‘Don’t Work Here’ - The Anti-Recruitment Campaign That’s Winning
A company’s unconventional “Don’t Work at Anduril” campaign is going viral, flipping traditional recruitment on its head. Reverse psychology in hiring? It’s bold, risky, and definitely getting attention.
Erin Davis
All images courtesy of: https://x.com/DevinLewtan/status/1895517804591530287
Closing Thoughts
This week’s headlines show that hiring is getting weirder, from government job grabs to AI salary wars and recruitment campaigns that tell people not to apply. At the same time, employers are rethinking priorities as the economy shifts, and the real motives behind workplace policies continue to surface.
For HR and employer brand leaders, the key takeaway is clear: the old playbook isn’t working anymore.
- Job seekers have more leverage than they think.
- AI hiring is unsustainable at current costs.
- Return-to-office mandates aren’t about what you’ve been told.
If your talent strategy still looks like it did five years ago, you’re already behind.
See you next week.
Video Version
🎥 Prefer to watch? Check out the video edition of Paper Cut for sharp takes on this week’s biggest trends in employer branding and HR.
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