HR Brew // Morning Brew // Update

June 18, 2026

Hey there, HR pros. The World Cup is underway, and it may well interfere with your happy hour drink options.

At least that’s the case in Boston, where multiple bars reported they ran out of beer because Scottish soccer fans drank so much of it.

These same fans also chartered a school bus to transport them from Providence to Boston’s Gillette stadium after they decided an $80 roundtrip train ride was too expensive.

Nothing says team bonding like working out a problem over a cold beer. Slàinte Mhath!

In today’s edition:

No free ~~lunch~~ AI

Smart source

Legislative lowdown

—Courtney Vinopal, Adam DeRose

TECH

It’ll cost ya

IBM's Nickle LaMoreaux and Bank of America's Sheri Bronstein sit onstage for a panel at the IBM headquarters in New York.

Courtesy of IBM. Photo by ClickHouse.

As companies begin to grapple with the high costs of AI usage, IBM’s HR chief predicted that employers will soon have to make decisions about when it’s worth using the technology, versus when it’s not.

“AI is not free. We act like it’s free right now,” Nickle LaMoreaux, IBM’s CHRO, said at a New York Tech Week panel on June 5. “There’s going to be a time very shortly where organizations have to make trade-offs about, ‘Do I want people using AI for that or not, is there enough value for the cost?’ And that is coming quickly,” she said.

LaMoreaux’s comments come after big tech firms like Amazon and Meta stopped tracking internal AI usage amid concerns that “toxenmaxxing” was running up their bills.

IBM is heavily invested in AI, with plans to put $150 billion toward developing this technology, as well as quantum computing. AI has already transformed functions like HR, LaMoreaux told HR Brew in February, and prompted the company to rethink how it approaches upskilling and performance management. But LaMoreaux differentiated between embedding AI into the workflow to drive business outcomes and using it at the individual employee level.

For more on how LaMoreaux is thinking about AI, keep reading here.—CV

Sponsored By Persona

Don’t sleep on candidate verification

AI-driven candidate fraud is only getting more sophisticated. Thankfully, Persona’s fraud prevention starter kit can help you map out a plan to combat it.

The guide was made to inform your frameworks for candidate verification. It includes a step-by-step checklist for gaining buy-in, plus a decision framework for how to match your verification methods to role sensitivity.

You’ll even see a real example of how Persona’s candidate verification flow integrates into your ATS, starting with the applicant’s first touchpoint.

Make sure your team has tools that can protect them from candidates who aren’t legitimate. Get your fraud prevention plan in place.

RECRUITMENT & RETENTION

Tap a new source

Getty Images

Indeed on Monday launched Sourcing Assistant, its new AI-powered assistant designed to help recruiters at the top of the funnel.

Sourcing Assistant aims to evolve sourcing beyond the keyword query, by identifying potential candidates with related skill sets and recent candidate activity across Indeed’s pool of hundreds of millions of profiles.

Indeed’s “Smart Sourcing product came out a few years ago, and it was a big upgrade,” Indeed’s VP of product, Thomas Bergman, told HR Brew ahead of the launch. “But then the actual querying and reviewing of results was still super tedious and time consuming.”

New AI tools and trends on both sides of the hiring relationship have upset an already tenuous equilibrium when it comes to candidate matching. In fact, 71% of hiring managers say higher volume has made it harder to find qualified candidates, according to a recent Harris Poll survey conducted for Indeed.

For more on how the new tool aims to make sourcing more efficient, keep reading here.—AD

COMPLIANCE

Legislative lowdown

Francis Scialabba

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently approved a new National Enforcement Plan, rescinding and replacing a previous version that was adopted by President Joe Biden’s administration.

The document identifies priorities “to guide all aspects of the EEOC’s work to prevent and remedy unlawful employment discrimination.” Among them are certain employment practices related to DEI, as well as a shift away from using disparate impact theories in enforcement matters.

For more on what the EEOC is prioritizing, keep reading here.—CV

WORK PERKS

A desktop computer plugged into a green couch.

Francis Scialabba

Today’s top HR reads.

Stat: Hardship withdrawals are on the rise. A record 6% of Vanguard 401(k) participants dipped into their retirement savings to cover expenses such as medical treatment or eviction costs in 2025. (Bloomberg)

Quote: “It is the hardest consequence of committing uncompromisingly to our values of being ‘lean & disciplined’ and demanding ‘high performance.’”—Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev framed layoffs that will affect nearly 300 workers as a byproduct of the company’s own success (the Wall Street Journal)

Read: Mentions of “tokens” skyrocketed on earnings calls in Q2 2026 as corporate leaders faced pressure to contain mounting AI costs tied to employee usage. (Business Insider)

No frauds allowed: How does your team detect AI-driven candidate fraud? This guide from Persona can help you establish a game plan. It’s got everything you need for candidate verification. Get your copy.*

^{*A message from our sponsor.}

JOBS

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Written by Courtney Vinopal and Adam DeRose

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