Agency founder now CCO and CMO at Fathom.inc, James built cultures before branding them. With 20+ years in digital marketing, employer branding, and research-led activation; from Ogilvy to Universum
IKEA spent years being held up as the company that reskilled rather than reduced when AI came for customer service. In 2026, both Inter IKEA and Ingka Group announced layoffs. What the case still proves, what it never proved, and what employer brand teams should take from both halves of the story.
Candidates now research employers inside AI tools, not on your careers site. An academically referenced guide to Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO): the platforms that shape what candidates see, how to communicate your EVP so AI cites it accurately, and how to measure your AI presence.
87 percent of companies use AI in hiring. 26 percent of candidates trust it to evaluate them fairly. The Workday lawsuit just cleared its biggest hurdle. A reference page on AI in hiring with every figure attributed to a primary or named secondary source.
AI is already shaping which candidates see your brand and which get through your process. Five ways to make your employer brand work better for AI-driven recruitment, without amplifying bias or losing candidate trust.
Meta's May 2026 restructuring eliminated 8,000 jobs and forced a public reckoning with how Big Tech employer brands sell mission to candidates and then revert to transaction at exit. Here is what the moral premium model gets wrong, and the EB playbook leaders should rebuild now.
Mass layoffs at profitable companies. AI deep in the hiring stack. A generation that prices in disloyalty before signing. Employer branding in 2026 has not become redundant. The version built on a different decade's assumptions has.
LVMH unveiled its employer brand campaign on 25 July 2025 and rebuilt its careers experience around “Where Dreams Become Careers”. Here’s the EVP, the proof, the trade-offs, and how it compares to luxury rivals.