HR Brew // Morning Brew // Update

January 16, 2026

It’s Friday. Actor Zoe Saldaña, whose résumé includes starring roles in the highest-grossing films of all time—Avatar and its sequel, and Avengers: Endgame—recently became the highest-grossing actor of all time with the release of her latest flick, Avatar: Fire and Ash. Imagine asking for a raise with those credentials…

In today’s edition:

🦾 Easy peasy

At a standstill

DOL drama

—Paige McGlauflin, Mikaela Cohen, Kristen Parisi

RECRUITMENT & RETENTION

Zillow’s AI for TA push

Roz Harris

Recruiting teams are, in many ways, ground zero for AI disruption. A plethora of tasks historically performed by recruiters can now be performed by AI technology. But…with a world of possibilities at one’s fingertips, it can be difficult to know where to begin.

Real estate tech giant Zillow has launched several AI tools for recruitment since it began experimenting in late 2023. HR Brew recently sat down with Roz Harris, Zillow’s VP of talent acquisition, engagement, and belonging, to discuss how her recruitment team has identified and adopted AI solutions.

In November 2023, Harris’s team started looking into how AI could be used by recruiters. “We started looking at the possibility of AI. And what we found was, when you look at the role of a recruiter and what they do, about 80% of our jobs were what you would hear in the conferences about the mundane tasks” that AI could replace, she told HR Brew.

To help ease recruiters’ fear of being replaced by AI, Harris and her team experimented with AI with prompt-a-thons.

For more on how Zillow uses AI to make candidates’ and recruiters’ lives easier, keep reading here.—PM

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HR STRATEGY

Not moving the needle

Dny59/Getty Images

Would you be surprised to know that AI use isn’t moving the needle for most organizations?

The majority (88%) of global employees report using AI at work, but just 28% of companies have seen a discernible impact on “business transformation,” a recent report from consulting firm EY found. This is the case, despite the fact that 50% of leaders, 42% of knowledge workers, and 33% of essential workers report using the tech daily.

AI adoption and use is accelerating at a time when some companies have “fragile types of talent dynamics,” said Roselyn Feinsod, a principal in EY’s people consulting practice. This, she said, could be hampering innovation and transformation. As AI use increases, she recommended HR focus on improving talent strategies.

“The magic formula that we saw that really kind of gets you to the strongest point is built on the mix of what we are describing as skillset, toolset, and mindset as it relates to AI,” Feinsod told HR Brew.

For more on what these findings mean for HR, keep reading here.—MC

COMPLIANCE

Internal affair?

The exterior of the Department of Labor headquarters.

J. David Ake/Getty Images

The world is filled with irony, especially in 2026. Just a month ago, the world’s biggest HR organization lost a workplace discrimination suit. Now, the Department of Labor (DOL) could be facing its own potential HR violations.

A DOL employee filed a complaint against Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer, alleging she abused her office and had an inappropriate relationship with a subordinate, the New York Post reported on Jan. 9. According to documents seen by the Post and its sources, the complaint also alleges that Chavez-DeRemer committed “travel fraud” by going on taxpayer-funded trips to spend time with family and friends.

The complaint, filed last week with the DOL’s Office of Inspector General, according to the Post, alleges the labor secretary invited her subordinate to her hotel room while traveling and to her private DC residence. It also alleges she engaged in other unprofessional behavior, including drinking during official department travel and in her office during work hours.

“These unsubstantiated allegations are categorically false,” Courtney Parella, a DOL spokesperson, told the Independent in defense of Chavez-DeRemer. “The secretary is considering all possible avenues, including legal action, to fight these baseless accusations from anonymous sources.”

For more on the allegations against the labor secretary, keep reading here.—KP

Together With WebMD Health Services

Inspire workplace wellness year-round. Kick-start those employee health resolutions with the WebMD Health Services 2026 wellness calendar. From Mental Health Awareness Month to National Eat Your Vegetables Day, the calendar provides a full year of observances to help encourage healthy habits and boost well-being. Get your free copy here.

WORK PERKS

A desktop computer plugged into a green couch.

Francis Scialabba

Today’s top HR reads.

Stat: Half (49%) of US workers are anticipating an uptick in layoffs in 2026. (Zety)

Quote: “People keep calling it DOGE…Why is Sherrill DOGE-ing New Jersey?”—a New Jersey government worker on the state’s Democratic governor-elect, Mikie Sherrill, requesting workers’ resignations ahead of her inauguration (Politico)

Read: Some workplace safety regulators want to pass legislation that would prevent countertop fabricators, whose work cutting engineered materials puts them at risk for lung disease, from filing lawsuits against the makers of the matter. (NPR)

A hundred ways to hire: Spark Hire will give you a $100 gift card when you see a demo of their one-way video interview, behavioral assessment, or ATS tools designed to streamline the hiring journey. Start here.*

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Written by Paige McGlauflin, Mikaela Cohen, and Kristen Parisi

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