Hello HR Pros,

Labor Day’s just around the corner, and if you’re already eyeing that early sign-off, we’ve got you. This week’s roundup is short, sharp, and packed with insights that’ll keep your HR brain buzzing—even as your out-of-office message goes live.

From empathy in the age of AI to the resume tips you wish you had years ago, and a deep dive into the disappearing entry-level job, there’s a lot changing fast.

Let’s get into it—before you get out of here ✨

📰 Upcoming in This Issue

• 📝 Resumes That Gets Recruiters Hired

• 🤖 The AI Effect on Entry-Level Jobs and Career Progression

• 🧠 Empathy Is a Leadership Superpower—Until AI Starts Imitating It

📣 Trending HR News

• Google cuts 35% of managers handling small teams – reports (CNBC)

• US weekly jobless claims fall amid low layoffs (Reuters)

• Coinbase's CEO fired engineers who didn't adopt AI tools (Tech Crunch)

📝 Resumes That Gets Recruiters Hired

It’s official: only 3% of resumes lead to interviews—and yes, that includes recruiter resumes.

In this insightful article, AIHR unpacks why most recruiter resumes fall flat and what it takes to stand out in a pile of sameness.

The key? Skip the fluff. Lead with numbers, prove your tech fluency, and keep it razor-focused on results. With hiring managers giving resumes less than three minutes, your summary and skills section need to hit like a laser—not a shotgun.

And if you're relying on vague job duties, you're already out of the running.

Key Takeaways:

• 📉 Resumes Roulette: Just 3% of résumés make it to the interview stage—recruiters included.

• 📊 Metrics Matter: Saying you “reduced time-to-fill by 15%” speaks louder than generic claims of being a “team player.”

• 🛠️ ATS Tools Are a Must: Listing tools like Greenhouse and LinkedIn Recruiter shows you're fluent in hiring tech.

• 📈 Skills Over School: 65% of hiring managers will overlook experience gaps if your skills fit the bill.

Read the full 1,245-word article here from AIHR

🛡️ A Quick Guide: When HR Should Consider a PEO

With AI reshaping workflows, managers being cut at major firms, and leadership skills like empathy becoming more critical, HR is being asked to do more with less—often without extra resources. It raises an important question: when does it make sense to lean on outside expertise?

That’s where a Professional Employer Organization (PEO) comes in. HR leaders can unlock benefits of a PEO when:

• Compliance feels like a moving target — regulations shift faster than lean teams can track.

• Benefits aren’t competitive enough — smaller companies need big-company perks to attract talent.

• Admin work blocks strategy — payroll cycles, tax filings, and risk management drain focus from culture and people.

TriNet is one PEO frequently recommended for HR teams in this situation, offering expertise, benefits access, and streamlined operations so HR can focus on adapting to larger changes—like AI adoption and leadership development.

🤖 The AI Effect on Entry-Level Jobs and Career Progression

“Using ChatGPT might make you stupid.” That’s the provocative claim that kicks off this intriguing and insightful article—and the reality is far more layered.

AI is rapidly replacing the boring-but-crucial entry-level tasks that once taught new hires how work actually works.

The result? A generation of junior employees might be skipping the training wheels and heading straight into complexity—without the context.

Mervyn Dinnen explores how this AI shift could reshape not just job roles, but how we build careers, develop soft skills, and train our future leaders.

Key Takeaways:

• 🧱 No More Building Blocks: Entry-level grunt work used to teach judgment—now AI completes it in seconds, creating potential learning gaps.

• 🧠 Critical Thinking Shift: Instead of doing the task, juniors now need to critique and improve AI’s output.

• 🎮 Gen Z’s Brain Wiring: Dopamine-driven learning habits may clash with tasks requiring focus and long-term thinking.

• 🛠️ Redesign Required: Mentorship, job shadowing, and creativity training are the new scaffolds for early career development.

Read the full 1,118-word article here from Mervyn Dinnen

🧠 Empathy Is a Leadership Superpower—Until AI Starts Imitating It

Let’s talk about the quiet burnout creeping into leadership—and how AI might be making it worse.

This intriguing and insightful article dives deep into why empathy in the workplace has shifted from being seen as a "soft skill" to becoming a vital leadership trait.

But as AI chatbots get better at mimicking empathy, leaders are burning out trying to stay genuinely human—while some execs see empathy as optional.

And that’s where the real crisis begins. We’re entering an era where emotional connection is being automated—and employees are noticing.

Key Takeaways:

• 😬 CEOs Are Tapping Out: 49% of CEOs now admit they don’t make time for empathy—up 16 points from 2024.

• 🧠 ChatGPT vs. Bosses: Nearly half of Gen Z say they get better career advice from AI than their managers.

• ⚡ The Rise of “Empathy-Washing”: Companies are using friendly AI chatbots to mask real disconnects with employees.

• ❤️ AI Shows Us Our Flaws: AI follows empathy scripts better than humans—because it doesn’t interrupt or talk about itself.

Read the full 1,305-word article here from Harvard Business Review

The bottomline

Whether you’re logging off early or just savoring the inbox quiet, remember: the future of work doesn’t pause—but we all should.

Happy Labor Day, and here’s to using the time off to disconnect, decompress, and maybe rethink how we lead, hire, and grow in this new world of work.

See you next week ✨