HR Brew // Morning Brew // Update

April 16, 2026

Hey there, HR pros. We recently learned that Meta is developing an AI twin for CEO Mark Zuckerberg. But said twin hasn’t replaced him just yet. In fact, Zuckerberg appears to be more visible than ever, having moved his desk to sit alongside employees with the tech firm’s AI lab and code with them.

Bosses, please don’t take a page from the Zuck. It would be a shame to lose that corner office!

Sincerely,

The rank-and-file

In today’s edition:

It’ll cost ya

Legislative lowdown

Recruit, retain, repeat

—Paige McGlauflin, Courtney Vinopal, Jaimee Kidd

RECRUITMENT & RETENTION

The cost of AI

A computer monitor and tower. The tower has a vertical coin slot on the front. The monitor screen displays the text "CONTINUE? INSERT COIN" with a cursor pointing to "YES."

Illustration: Amelia Kinsinger, Photos: Adobe Stock

These days, fewer things seemingly make tech CEOs feel more alive than speculating about replacing their employees with AI.

Taken at face value, you would think the era of robots replacing human workers was already here. Block CEO Jack Dorsey even suggested so in a February letter to shareholders (following layoffs affecting 40% of his 10,000 employees), saying that with AI, “a significantly smaller team, using the tools we’re building, can do more and do it better.”

Dorsey and other CEOs have been accused of “AI-washing” their layoffs, and for good reason. Human workers currently account for the bulk of companies’ budgets. But the jury is still out on whether AI actually is more cost effective. AI developers like OpenAI and Anthropic have bled clash for years ($5 billion and $5.3 billion, respectively, in 2024) and don’t expect to generate profits for many more. In order to turn a profit, experts have predicted that AI tools, considered confoundingly cheap, will eventually become more expensive, ending AI’s “free-trial era,” as New York Magazine tech columnist John Herrman put it.

So, will companies—some of which already pay a pretty penny for their AI tech stacks—eventually end up paying even more for these tools than employing human workers? And how might that impact their future AI tech stacks? HR Brew spoke with several experts to find out.

For more on the cost of replacing human workers with AI, keep reading here.—PM

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Here’s how Croissant can help you manage flexible work.

COMPLIANCE

Legislative lowdown

Francis Scialabba

Virginia workers will be entitled to a $15-an-hour minimum wage within the next few years.

On April 9, Gov. Abigail Spanberger signed a bill into law that will increase Virginia’s minimum wage to this level by 2028. It’s currently $12.77 an hour.

Spanberger also signed a separate bill entitling Virginia farm workers to earn the state minimum wage, starting Jan. 1, 2027. Historically, farm workers have been exempted from the state’s minimum wage requirements, allowing employers to pay them the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour.

“Today, we are putting more money in the pockets of Virginia workers,” Spanberger said in a statement. “If you work full time in Virginia, you should be able to afford to live in Virginia. You should be able to keep up with your rent or mortgage, fill your medications, and save for your kids’ futures.”

For more on what HR needs to know about the minimum wage hike, keep reading here.—CV

RECRUITMENT & RETENTION

The soft stuff is the hard stuff

Allie Shulman

Allie Shulman is the vice president of people and culture at SoundCloud, where she’s focused on building trust and engagement at scale, and keeping DEI central to how organizations show up. She’s set to speak at HR Brew’s upcoming summit, Talent 2030 Collective: Recruit, Retain, Repeat, on April 21 about the balance between culture and compensation. Before then, we had a chance to talk about how she thinks about the soft skills gap, and why AI and human connection aren’t separate workstreams.

The following has been edited for length and clarity.

If you zoom out, what’s the biggest shift happening in the talent landscape right now that HR leaders can’t afford to ignore?

For the first time, your most tech-native employees are also your most human-hungry ones. Gen Z is coming in fully aware that AI is reshaping org charts. And they're not scared of it, they expect it. But what they’re also telling us loudly is that they want mentorship, real relationships, and development in the skills that AI can't replicate.

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WORK PERKS

A desktop computer plugged into a green couch.

Francis Scialabba

Today’s top HR reads.

Stat: The labor force shrank by 554,000 people in March, representing the largest decline since late 2013. (the Wall Street Journal)

Quote: “It seems to be common to just copy and paste a bot’s message directly into chats or emails…Although it is personally frustrating, I understand why people do this. There’s a lot of pressure to increase productivity compounded by serious uncertainty in the job market.”—Kelly Cashin, a freelance product designer, on how “workslop” is affecting employee communication (the Guardian)

Read: Employees at federal agencies including the Department of Labor and the USDA have been subject to a slew of religious-themed content since the beginning of President Trump’s second term, from prayer services to emails announcing “He has risen!” (Wired)

EVENT

This is it

Morning Brew Inc.

This is your official last call. With 150+ HR leaders already attending, we opened up a limited batch of final tickets to make sure you still have a shot at joining us. Expect big ideas, honest conversations, and the kind of connections you don’t get on Zoom. Don’t miss your chance to be part of it.

JOBS

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Written by Paige McGlauflin, Courtney Vinopal, and Jaimee Kidd

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☕️ Can companies afford to replace humans with AI?