Hey HR Pros,

We’re all moving fast—but are we skipping what actually drives impact?

This week’s picks uncover the power in what’s being overlooked:
AI tools that could cut your workload in half.
Global workforce signals HR can’t afford to ignore.
And ten strategic actions your HR team probably isn’t doing—but absolutely should be.

These aren’t just insights. They’re red flags, green lights, and your next five moves—rolled into one sharp edition. Let’s dive in ✨

📰 Upcoming in This Issue

• 📊 PwC’s Global Workforce Hopes and Fears Survey 2025

• 🧩 Strategic Omissions – High Impact Things That HR Should Be Doing (But Isn’t)

• ⚙️ A Smarter Way for HR to Manage Employee Scheduling & Shifts

• 🧠 Perplexity at Work: Reclaim Focus and Multiply Output

✨ Helpful HR Resource

• 🎁 Useful HR tools curated for The HR Takeaways readers

📣 Trending HR News

• 1 in 3 US job listings go nowhere, creating a ‘ghost job economy' (Yahoo)

• Verizon to cut about 15,000 jobs as new CEO restructures (Reuters)

• AI shows clear racial bias when used for job recruiting (Mashable)

• Big changes are coming to 401(k) contribution limits (Yahoo Finance)

📊 PwC’s Global Workforce Hopes and Fears Survey 2025

The results are in from PwC’s 2025 Global Workforce Hopes and Fears Survey, and they reveal a workforce cautiously optimistic—but deeply unsure—about the AI-powered road ahead.

While 54% of employees have used AI in the last year, only 14% use GenAI tools daily, and just 6% use autonomous AI agents.

Employees want clarity, trust, skill-building, and meaningful work more than ever—and if you give it to them, the payoff is massive: motivated, aligned, and AI-ready talent.

Now’s not the time for hype—it’s the time for HR to guide with transparency, purpose, and reskilling strategies that actually stick.

Key Takeaways:

• 🔍 Trust drives motivation: Workers who trust direct managers are 72% more motivated than those who don’t.

• 📉 Financial strain weakens loyalty: Over 55% of employees are under financial stress, making them less trusting, engaged, or optimistic.

• 🧠 Upskilling isn’t equal: While 75% of GenAI daily users feel supported with learning resources, only 59% of infrequent users do.

• 🚀 Purpose ignites performance: Employees who find their work meaningful are 91% more motivated—yet only half say they’ve found such roles.

👉 Read the full 5,023-word article here by PwC

🧩 Strategic Omissions – High Impact Things That HR Should Be Doing (But Isn’t)

HR isn’t failing because it’s doing the wrong things. It’s failing because it’s ignoring the right ones.

In this straight-shooting breakdown, Dr. John Sullivan names 10 high-impact HR actions most teams are skipping—from measuring dollar impact and rewarding talent-minded managers to spotting bad leadership and applying risk alerts to people data.

The most strategic HR teams aren’t just refining processes—they’re adding entirely new capabilities.

If your HR roadmap doesn’t include these omissions, you’re leaving impact—and influence—on the table.

Key Takeaways:

• 💸 Show me the money: Translate retention, internal mobility, and turnover into dollars to earn exec buy-in and budget backing.

• 🧑‍💼 Bad managers cost millions: With 82% of managers underperforming, HR must own identification, accountability, and intervention.

• 📊 Use predictive HR signals: Add risk analysis, forecasting, and “tipping point” alerts to prep for people problems before they blow up.

• 🏆 Reward great people managers: Only 39% of companies reward managers for talent results—yet it's the lever that shapes teams most.

👉 Read the full 2,117-word article here

⚙️ A Smarter Way for HR to Manage Employee Scheduling & Shifts

If scheduling shifts feels like a never-ending battle with spreadsheets, time-off requests, and last-minute changes, it’s time for a smarter way to work. When I Work gives HR teams the tools to build, manage, and adjust employee schedules in minutes — not hours — so you can spend less time fixing conflicts and more time supporting your people.

HR professionals rely on When I Work to simplify shift management, reduce overtime errors, and keep teams connected and accountable. It’s intuitive, quick to implement, and built for small HR departments that need to make a big impact.

Why HR teams love When I Work:

• 🗓 Drag-and-drop scheduling to create, edit, or reassign shifts instantly

• 📱 Mobile app access for employees to view schedules, swap shifts, and request time off easily

• 💰 Built-in time tracking and labor insights for smarter, compliant budgeting

• 🤝 Seamless payroll integrations with Gusto, ADP, and Patriot Payroll

Stop letting shift management drain your time and energy. Focus on engagement, retention, and culture — and let When I Work handle the schedules that keep your business running

👉 Start Your Free Trial — and Simplify Shift Management

🧠 Perplexity at Work: Reclaim Focus and Multiply Output

This guide from Perplexity offers a sharp blueprint for using AI to cut distractions, boost performance, and simplify workflows—especially relevant for HR and People Ops teams navigating high volumes of communication, documentation, and research.

Rather than adding more tools to juggle, Perplexity centralizes tasks like inbox triage, meeting prep, policy research, and internal comms—all with contextual awareness. With its Comet Agent, Spaces, and Labs, HR teams can automate repetitive admin work, generate polished materials (e.g., onboarding decks, L&D guides), and gather competitive HR intel fast.

The takeaway? AI can be your strategic partner—not just a productivity hack.

Key Takeaways:

• 🧠 Focus with fewer tabs: Eliminate context-switching by using Perplexity’s Comet Assistant to streamline research and internal navigation.

• 📬 Inbox, handled: Let the Email Assistant auto-label, schedule meetings, and draft replies in your tone—no need to bounce between Gmail and calendars.

• ⚡ Speed up meeting prep: Ask Comet for summaries of key comms, updates, and performance notes ahead of 1:1s or hiring panels.

• 🛠️ Create like a team of one: Use Labs to turn HR notes into professional-grade proposals, onboarding guides, or training materials—fast.

• 📊 Performance reviews, reimagined: Generate review-ready summaries and development plans based on actual project data and metrics.

👉 Read the full 44-page guide by Perplexity

The bottomline

This week reminded us: it’s not about doing more—it’s about doing what matters.

The future of HR isn’t built on best practices. It’s built on bold ones.
Whether it’s rethinking performance, rewriting what trust looks like, or reclaiming our strategic seat, the next move is yours.

See you in the next edition ✨