Layoffs, AI Takeover & Gen Z's Exit Strategy

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’s headlines reveal a workforce in flux: layoffs are back in the spotlight, AI’s ambitions are expanding, and Gen Z is rewriting the playbook for loyalty (or lack thereof).

Plus, RTO is rearing its head again, and employers are still struggling to fill roles, with some blaming spelling. Yes, really.

Oh, and apparently some London firms can’t find anyone who knows how to spell.

This Week’s Paper Cut's

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✂️ Restructures & Layoffs: The Quiet, the Loud, and the Generous

Mercedes-Benz is offering generous severance to 30,000 employees as part of a global cost-cutting effort. It's a strategic pivot towards electrification, but also a major shake-up in the auto industry.

EY, meanwhile, is carving out entire business divisions in a move to refocus on profitability post-split failure. Less rebrand, more rethink.

And then there’s IBM quietly laying off thousands with no formal announcement. Welcome to the stealth layoff era.

🤖 Agentic AI & Gates' AI-Proof Jobs

Bill Gates is doubling down on the AI takeover narrative, saying most human jobs will be obsolete, but there’s hope for a few “AI-proof” paths: coding, clean energy, and biology. It’s all about staying adjacent to the machines.

In response, Deloitte and EY are launching agentic AI platforms, automated, “self-directed” tools designed to do what consultants do, but faster, smarter, and without lunch breaks. Let the AI arms race begin.

🔁 RTO Round 873: Still Fighting It

Five years into the remote work era, companies are pushing harder than ever for return-to-office policies. The rhetoric? Culture. The reality? Control (and commercial leases).

In London, firms complain about a lack of basic maths and English skills in candidates, plus a growing WFH entitlement. Or maybe the talent pool’s just not buying what they're selling?

🚪 Gen Z: From Hopping to Holding?

Forget the “quiet quitting” clichés. New data suggests Gen Z may be dialing back the job-hopping hustle, with more early-career professionals now prioritising stability, internal growth, and workplace culture.

It’s a pivot that might signal the end of the “every 12 months, new role” mindset—and a new challenge for employer brands trying to keep this generation engaged without resorting to beanbags and buzzwords.

Meanwhile, a separate report shows 2 in 5 tech workers have still quit recently, proving that across the board, retention remains a moving target.

📊 DEI Gets Tweaked, Policy Gets Practical

JPMorgan is the latest company to recalibrate its DEI programs in response to shifting political pressure, changing the language without completely ditching the mission.

In the UK, the Spring Statement 2025 was less dramatic but still HR-relevant, with discussions on tax relief, workforce flexibility, and the usual election-year positioning.

Closing Thoughts

We’ve seen AI ambition skyrocket, employers play hot potato with job cuts, and Gen Z rewrite the loyalty rulebook. HR leaders are caught in the middle, trying to maintain engagement, push back against productivity theatre, and figure out whether “agentic AI” is just another buzzword… or a bulldozer.

The real signal through the noise?
✨The future of work will reward those who stay adaptable and cynical enough to read between the lines.

See you next week.