The Hangover of 2025 - Why Nothing Feels New Yet

Jackye Clayton and John Baldino dig into why 2026 feels like a continuation of 2025 rather than a fresh start. They challenge the idea that HR is overburdened, arguing instead that HR is under-empowered and has been since COVID gave the function a false sense of importance through compliance tasks. The conversation unpacks how AI and technology tools are dumbing down talent acquisition by reducing it to tool management rather than understanding people, and why knowing that 100 employees will leave annually is not the same as workforce planning. Both hosts draw parallels between dog fostering and workplace dynamics, explaining how dogs assess their environment on the first night before cooperating, while humans skip assessment entirely and jockey for position. The episode also tackles the Verizon outage, the history of bagels, and why fear drives too much professional behavior. HR is not overburdened but under-empowered: COVID gave HR a seat at the table only through compliance, not strategy AI is dumbing down talent acquisition by turning recruiters into tool managers rather than people strategists Knowing your turnover averages 100 employees annually is not workforce planning The Kraft mac and cheese analogy: TA has been simplified to the point where people believe the product is the process Dog fostering parallel: dogs spend the first night assessing escape routes, food, and shelter before choosing to cooperate as a team Rec ops is a critical discipline that complements talent acquisition but is not the same thing SOP documentation is necessary but cannot be your primary contribution as an HR leader Verizon outage lasted nine-plus hours and sent half the country into SOS mode, exposing technology dependence January layoffs continuing into 2026 with hundreds of companies cutting staff Fear drives too much individual behavior in the workplace: directional change, not disruption for disruption's sake [00:11:14] The 2025 hangover: nothing has changed and nothing feels new [00:11:30] January layoffs continuing into 2026 across hundreds of companies [00:28:33] Job searching in 2026: uptick in senior recruiter and go-to-market roles [00:30:22] AI creating another dumbing down of talent acquisition [00:36:57] The Kraft mac and cheese analogy for what TA has become [00:40:25] Workforce planning versus turnover replacement: they are not the same [00:44:49] SOPs as primary contribution versus strategic HR leadership [00:45:34] HR is under-empowered not overburdened [00:48:04] COVID gave HR false importance through compliance not strategy [00:49:59] Dog fostering lessons: first-night assessment and team cooperation Keywords: HR empowerment, talent acquisition, workforce planning, rec ops, AI recruiting, COVID HR impact, dog fostering leadership, employee layoffs 2026, fear workplace, SOP strategy