Breaking Job News: Shocking Quiet Firing Data, AI Hiring Laws, & Job Anxiety Is Growing

The workplace is transforming faster than anyone is prepared for, and today’s data reveals just how uneven the playing field has become. 

In this episode of Breaking Job News, host Pete Newsome breaks down the forces reshaping careers in 2025 and beyond. AI adoption is accelerating inside large enterprises, while small businesses struggle to keep pace. Meanwhile, IT leaders sound alarms about rising security risks as agentic AI becomes part of daily workflows.

He digs into the new patchwork of AI hiring laws across the U.S., from mandatory notices and bias audits to human-in-the-loop requirements, revealing how even well-intentioned rules can create a compliance maze if companies don’t build flexible governance now.

Then Pete turns to the human side of today’s labor market. Layoffs are becoming increasingly impersonal, with more workers being notified by email or phone instead of in person. Quiet firing is on the rise due to workload creep, micromanagement, and RTO mandates, which are used to push people out. We explore why maintaining dignity during offboarding isn’t just ethical, but also essential for sustaining a strong culture, fostering brand trust, and achieving future recruiting success.

Finally, he addresses the emotional paradox that millions of workers face: feeling secure in their current role yet uneasy about the broader job market. 

💬 Have you experienced quiet firing or impersonal layoffs in your own workplace?

News Articles:
1. Layoff Lifeline Report: https://zety.com/blog/layoff-lifeline-report
2. ADP HR Trends and Priorities for 2026: https://marketing-assets.adp.com/api/public/content/8179f471128e489caac131f44ac0eb4e?v=88329b93
3. 4CR Q4 2025 Employee Mindset Survey: https://www.4cornerresources.com/surveys/q4-2025-employee-mindset/

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🧠 WANT TO LEARN MORE? Be sure to subscribe and check out 4 Corner Resources at https://www.4cornerresources.com/

👋 FOLLOW PETE NEWSOME ONLINE:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/petenewsome/
Blog Articles: https://www.4cornerresources.com/blog

Episode Transcript

Pete Newsome (00:00):
Today's job market headlines include a new report
showing 2025 layoff trends andQ4 employee mindset data.
But first, AI is moving fasterthan employers can keep up,
according to ADP's 2026 HRTrends and Priorities Report.
Here are a few key takeaways.
First, 84% of large employersbelieve AI can streamline

(00:20):
processes without replacingemployees.
That sounds well intended, butI question whether they actually
believe if their processes arestreamlined enough that there
won't be an opportunity toreplace employees.
We know companies areconstantly trying to do more
with less.
And the less in this case, ofcourse, is fewer employees.

(00:41):
We'll see how this plays outover time.
Also, 66% of large organizationssay they're extremely excited
about AI's opportunitiescompared with 47% of mid-size
and only 33% of small companies.
I'm very surprised to see that.
If anything, AI gives smallorganizations the opportunity to

(01:02):
compete against large ones in away that they previously
couldn't.
And along those lines, agenticAI adoption is already
happening, but at a verydifferent pace.
Only 4% of small organizations,25% of mid-size, and 48% of
large employers report adoptingit currently.
So why are you small companiesnot following what the big ones

(01:26):
are doing and then using it soyou can be more competitive with
it?
I just don't understand that.
Maybe it's lack of awareness,lack of time and resources for a
small business being to applyjust effort in implementing AI
and adopting it faster.
I don't know, but that's adangerous thing for me to say,
see, because I believe that itjust is going to help larger

(01:48):
organizations get farther ahead.
So small companies need to pickup the pace.
Also, 79% of IT leaders believeAI agents introduce new
security risks inside theirorganizations.
Now, what's surprising to meabout that is that it's not
100%.
I mean, who doesn't think AI isgoing to introduce risk to your
company?
So those other 21% of ITleaders who aren't concerned

(02:11):
about risk with AI, well, maybeyou need to reconsider your
approach there.
Another interesting stat fromthis is that CHROs project 327%
growth in AI adoption by 2027,and 80% expect people and AI
agents to work together acrossmost of the workforce within
five years.
Five years is an eternity inthe AI space.

(02:33):
I also think that will be closeto 100% by then, because it's
going to infiltrate every aspectof life and business and what
we're doing.
So if you're not, I guess ifyou're not thinking it's going
to happen as rapidly as it is asI do, as all the data shows,
you need to pick up the pace.

(02:54):
I mean, I don't know how elseto say it, because in the AI
space, a year is about 60 days.
So it's happening and evolvingthat rapidly.
So just shift your timelinesthere.
Definitely worth readjusting.
And then also, I thought it wasinteresting that many states,
not just California, that's beenwidely reported, but Colorado,

(03:15):
New Jersey, Illinois, Maryland,they're implementing stricter
rules for AI when it comes tohiring.
They're uh putting, you have touh notify people when AI is
being used, you have to auditit, you have to provide uh
enough human oversight.
So lots of laws changing there.
And I do wonder about states'ability to enforce it and

(03:36):
companies' ability, thecompany's ability to just say in
compliance.
I mean, the target is moving soquickly with AI as a whole.
And then when you have laws ontop of that that companies are
responsible for adhering to, Ijust think it's it's going to be
a mess.
So I'm not sure how that'sgoing to play out over time.

(03:57):
So look, it's it's aninteresting report.
They're talking about the trendsthat they expect to be applied
over the next year.
I'll track them, I'll reportback on them.
But I think what we believe isthe case today, if I look back
on where we were at the end of2024, what seemed futuristic
then is just almost normal now.

(04:19):
And I think this is only goingto pick up speed.
So more to um more to come onthat as the year progresses or
as we get into next year.
The next headline tells uslayoffs are becoming more sudden
and more impersonal.
Zeti just released their layofflifeline report that shows how
employees in the U.S.
have experienced job cuts in2025.
It covers a couple of areas.

(04:41):
The first is how layoffshappen.
And it showed 29% of employeeswho were let go were notified by
email, and 28% by phone call,and only 30% were told in a
face-to-face meeting.
Now, in pre-COVID times, thatwould be shocking to see.
But since most employees arevirtual, it's really only the

(05:01):
ones who are notified by emailthat stands out to me.
I mean, one out of threealmost, that's just
unacceptable.
It's disgusting that anemployer would treat their
employees that way.
And what a I always wonder whyemployers get such a bad rap
when I believe through all of mydealings with hiring managers
and executives as the owner of astaffing company for a long

(05:24):
time, most people arewell-intended.
They they don't, they they theywant to treat employees well,
they want to do the right thing.
But when I see this, it it justmakes me scratch my head on who
could be so crappy to theiremployees.
It just makes no sense to me.
So definitely disappointing tosee, to say the least.
Also, 21% who took the surveysaid their layoff came as a

(05:48):
complete surprise.
36%, 36% saw it coming, and 43%actually suspected it.
So again, uh, you know, ifyou're an employer, I think it's
incumbent upon you, or at leastshould be, to make sure your
employees aren't surprised,especially if you know business
isn't trending in the rightdirection.
And I'm separating this from aperformance issue, that's

(06:09):
completely different.
But when we're talking aboutlayoffs, give your employees a
heads up.
Let them figure out whatthey're going to do next with
just with as much time aspossible.
It's just the right thing todo.
Also, in the survey, 32% citedautomation or technology changes
as a reason for their job loss.
Now, I know a lot of peoplewill see that and be skeptical

(06:30):
and think it's just done becausecompanies are saying AI, but
it's just an excuse.
You're actually they're actuallytaking different steps.
And listen, there's two campsright now where I think one side
believes that AI is replacinglots of jobs, the other side
believes it's just somethingthat employers say when they're
actually letting people go fordifferent reasons.

(06:52):
I personally think it's acombination of the two, but I do
believe AI job displacement issomething that is going to
increase over time for sure.
And also the survey touched onwhat they refer to as quiet
firing.
73% of those who were surveyedsay they have experienced quiet
firing tactics, um, primarily inthe form of increased workload

(07:13):
for the same pay andmicromanagement.
I think these things havehappened for a long time.
There's a label that we put onit now, quiet firing, but I
think it's just bad management.
I don't think employersnecessarily, I'd be really
surprised actually if employersdecide to do that consciously.
I think it just happens.
And in corporate America, it'sjust evolved over time to be

(07:37):
that way.
And also 70% believe thatreturn to office mandates are
used as a mechanism for quietfiring.
That's happening.
We know that.
Um, it's a great thing to putout publicly, knowing that a
significant percentage or somepercentage of your team is not
going to come back to theoffice.

(07:58):
But um, you know, 70%, that'sthat's a little high.
I I was surprised to see it wasquite that high.
And 30% felt that uh they haveto train their replacements
while being pushed out again.
Come on, employers.
What are you doing?
Don't make people do that.
If you need to get rid ofsomeone, give them a heads up,
let them uh leave with dignityand grace, and not by training

(08:20):
their own employee, uh, theirown replacement.
It's just so easily avoidable.
So in seeing the survey, it'sit's just many ways indicative
of the state of things incorporate America today and why
employers get a bad rap.
If you treat your employeesbetter, if you treat people
professionally and with respectand dignity, they'll think much
better about you even when youhave to part ways.

(08:42):
And finally, for today, nearlyhalf of all currently employed
workers are anxious about theirfuture place in the job market,
despite 77% feeling confident intheir current role.
This is from the Q4 2025Employee Mindset Survey from
Four Corner Resources.
The results show an obvioussplit in worker sentiment.
Employees trust their jobs, butnot the job market.

(09:04):
24% said they're very anxious,and 23% said they're extremely
anxious about the future market.
The survey also asked employeesto rank the factors that could
threaten their employment.
Poor market conditions came inat number one, followed by
misalignment with management andleadership, and being replaced
by someone who was lessexpensive or less experienced.

(09:26):
And of course, AI made the listtoo.
That's up there.
So, on one hand, it's great, ifnot a little surprising for me,
to see that most employees feelsecure where they are.
That tells me that employershave done a really good job of
making their teams feelcomfortable.
That's important to do.
They should do that.
But on the other hand, ifyou're an employee, you need to

(09:48):
guard against being complacent.
Don't get too comfortablebecause the threats that you're
worried about, they're real.
They're concerns for a reason,and you never know as an
employee, especially for alarger organization, because
you're not close enough to beable to feel it and sense it,
when that can happen to you.
So don't be surprised by thatand always keep an eye on the

(10:11):
future as best you can.
Pay attention to what'shappening with your
organization, pay attention tomarket conditions, and of
course, I'm going to say thispay attention to what AI is
doing because whether youremployer is saying it or not,
they're trying to figure out howto implement that probably in
all aspects of the business.
So those are your headlines fortoday.

(10:32):
But before we go, here's thefun fact: the two-minute rule,
if you've heard of that, itsuggested if a task takes less
than two minutes to complete,you should do it immediately to
prevent small tasks from pilingup.
That sounds great, but I alsosubscribe to the deep work
philosophy where you don't wantto be interrupted.
And so that's what you need toprotect against.

(10:52):
Here is if you're have youremail coming in all day and you
see small requests that you canreply to, and in many cases they
will take less than twominutes, that'll distract you.
That'll break yourconcentration from potentially
something more important.
So I say knock out those twominute tasks at once.
Don't try to do them just asthey come up because you will

(11:13):
constantly be starting andstopping.
And that is just a highlyinefficient way to work.
So those are your headlines fortoday.
Thanks for listening.
Please like, subscribe, sharewith anyone who you think might
be interested.
And I appreciate that.
I look forward to talking toyou tomorrow.