Hello, HR Pros!

AI is rewriting the playbook, but which chapter are we in? This edition digs deep into conflicting AI futures, celebrates remote model wins, and sounds the alarm on DEI's quiet retreat.

HR leaders, get ready—your org charts are about to evolve in exciting, unconventional ways ✨

📰 Upcoming in This Issue

• 🧠 Two Futures, One AI: Will It Save Us or Subvert Us?

• 🏗️ DEI Wasn’t the Problem—Apologizing for It Was

• 🏡 Zillow’s Remote Strategy Is Working—Here’s Why They’re Still Keeping Their Offices

• 🌊 The AI Job Flood Nobody's Talking About

📣 Trending HR News

• US court blocks Trump’s mass layoffs and restructuring plans (CNN)

• 42% of Gen Z workers say they’re turning to blue-collar roles for security (Resume Builder)

• Volvo Cars to slash 3,000 jobs in white-collar cutback (Reuters)

• Employees are increasingly working while on vacation (Yahoo)

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🧠 Two Futures, One AI: Will It Save Us or Subvert Us?

OpenAI’s former insider sees apocalypse, Princeton professors see gradual change—both agree AI will reshape society.

This gripping article pits “AI 2027,” a scenario of self-improving superintelligence, against “AI as Normal Technology,” a cautious view of AI as a tool still governed by human systems.

What’s more terrifying? That both might be right.

Key Takeaways:

• ⚠️ OpenAI alum warns of superintelligence by 2027: Recursive self-improvement may lead to AI dominating—or even ending—human oversight.

• 🧯 Princeton’s counter: AI will evolve slowly: They argue AI will be governed by physical limits, human systems, and bureaucratic inertia.

• 🧑‍💼 HR needs to bridge this worldview gap: Some execs see AI as a co-pilot; others fear it’s the pilot. We need clarity before we lose control of the cockpit.

• 🔒 Accountability must scale with automation: AI doesn’t remove responsibility—it concentrates it. Our hiring, governance, and training must reflect that reality.

Read the full 2,495-word article here — published by The New Yorker

🏗️ DEI Wasn’t the Problem—Apologizing for It Was

DEI wasn’t a bonus—it was the scaffolding that made our broken systems just safe enough to function.

Now, it’s being torn down. This article is a powerful reminder that pulling back DEI isn't neutral—it's erasure.

And for HR, it's a wake-up call: without intentional equity strategies, we’re not advancing—we're reverting.

Key Takeaways:

• 🧱 DEI was never “extra”—it was essential: It stabilized flawed systems and made opportunity possible, not perfect—but vital for real inclusion.

• 🔇 Losing the language is losing the progress: Removing DEI from charters and metrics erases marginalized voices and halts accountability for hiring, pay, and promotion.

• 🚩 Meritocracy myths mask systemic inequities: “Best person for the job” narratives ignore baked-in bias, caregiving penalties, and workplace exclusion.

• 💡 Flexibility isn’t a perk—it’s survival: For many women and caregivers, remote work is the only path to balancing professional and personal life—at great cost.

Read the full 2,818-word article here — published by Jess Von Bank.

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🏡 Zillow’s Remote Strategy Is Working—Here’s Why They’re Still Keeping Their Offices

Zillow’s CloudHQ model didn’t just weather the post-pandemic shift—it rewrote the recruiting playbook.

Now with 84% of staff fully remote, Zillow’s CPO Dan Spaulding reveals how structured flexibility and intentional gatherings (“Z-retreats”) are helping the company outperform the real estate market—and reshape its workforce.

This isn’t just remote work. It’s culture, redesigned.

Key Takeaways:

• 🌎 Zillow hires from all 50 states—no RTO mandates: Their “CloudHQ” treats virtual space as HQ, empowering employees to live and work where they thrive.

• 🎯 Z-retreats fuel focused collaboration: Cross-functional teams meet IRL during key launches and leadership summits, but without defaulting to office life.

• 📈 Recruiting pipeline is 4x deeper: Post-remote shift, applications have soared and women now make up 46% of Zillow’s workforce—a major demographic win.

• 💬 “We hire adults, we treat them like adults”: Flexibility is earned and honored—employees step up when needed because they’re trusted to own their time.

Read the full 1,258-word article here — published by Yahoo

🌊 The AI Job Flood Nobody's Talking About

While AI alarmists spotlight mass job losses, a Reddit user throws a surprising twist into the mix: the real squeeze might hit where automation doesn’t go.

Reddit user points out that roles like caregiving, skilled trades, and customer service—too nuanced or human for AI—could face an unexpected flood. Displaced workers won’t vanish; they’ll pivot. That means the bottleneck isn’t just in the job market—it’s in the human-heavy lanes.

The result? Oversaturation, burnout, wage compression, and hiring friction in sectors that were never built to scale.

Key Takeaways:

• 🔴 Saturation Risk: Non-AI jobs will face competition as displaced workers migrate en masse.

• 🌐 Global Labor Crunch: Aging populations and fewer young workers are already tightening global labor markets.

• 🏖️ Automation Isn’t Cheap: Robots still face energy, material, and infrastructure constraints.

• 💼 Skills Gap Reality: Not everyone can pivot to tech—programming isn’t a quick fix for labor displacement.

Read the full 1,221-word reddit thread here

The bottomline

From predictive models to policy erasure, the HR desk is no longer just about hiring and handbooks.

It’s mission control for your company’s survival strategy in a world being reshaped by code, culture, and conviction.

See you in the next edition.