This week’s tension is simple. AI is forcing companies to decide what kind of employer they actually are. Some are building ladders and reskilling at pace. Others are swapping ladders for turnstiles and calling it culture. Meanwhile, a few are quietly rediscovering that pay, healthcare, and people who like each other still matter.
The headlines tell competing stories: Salesforce pushing internal mobility to blunt AI’s impact. Workday floating “human agentic resources” while HBR asks if CHRO and CTO should fuse. Duolingo’s CEO vows productivity without pink slips. Amazon throws a billion at wages and healthcare. Bossware spreads. AT&T tracks RTO compliance like a parole board. Fiverr trims a third of staff to go “AI first.” None of this is theoretical. It is operating model in public.
Helping HR, talent acquisition, employer branding, and company culture professionals find careers worth smiling about.
Here’s how to read it if you care about talent, trust, and brand: the winners will design for human agency, not just model performance. The rest will spend their savings on attrition.
This Week’s Paper Cut's
