HR Brew // Morning Brew // Update

January 22, 2026

Hey there, HR pros. On this day in 1973, the Supreme Court issued a decision legalizing abortion nationwide. It overturned Roe v. Wade nearly 50 years later, leaving it to states to decide whether abortion should be legal. The decision reverberated across workplaces, prompting questions about health benefit design and even spurring debate about other types of reproductive healthcare commonly covered by employers, like IVF.

HR teams will likely continue to consider these issues in a fragmented, post-Roe landscape.

In today’s edition:

Cuts on cuts

Legislative lowdown

Them’s the rules

—Paige McGlauflin, Courtney Vinopal, Caroline Nihill

RECRUITMENT & RETENTION

The year in layoffs

A cartoon of a large hand separating employees with boxes from an office desk.

Sesame/Getty Images

If last year’s news cycle felt like a nonstop barrage of corporate layoff announcements, that’s because it was.

Employers announced over 1,200,000 job cuts in 2025, up 58% from 2024, when 761,000 layoffs were disclosed, according to an analysis from outplacement services firm Challenger, Gray and Christmas. That’s also the highest level seen since 2020, when some 2,300,000 cuts were announced.

March marked the highest month for layoff announcements last year, at around 250,000, followed by February with more than 172,000 cuts, HR Brew previously reported. December saw the fewest announcements, with just 35,553 cuts announced, while employers announced plans to hire more than 10,000 roles, an increase from past Decembers and a positive sign, according to the firm.

Zoom out. Challenger, Gray and Christmas’s monthly layoffs tracker is frequently cited in business news coverage about the state of the labor market. That said, experts have warned that Challenger’s data, which tracks layoff announcements, not job cuts themselves, is not a fully reliable source for measuring the current state of the labor market.

For more on what HR needs to know about the data, keep reading here.—PM

Presented By EasyLlama

One size doesn’t fit all

Most compliance tools still treat training like a checkbox—the same content and rules for everyone. But real compliance doesn’t work that way. Different roles, locations, and risk levels call for different training, different oversight, and different reporting.

On Feb. 11, EasyLlama is hosting a live webinar on a more practical approach to compliance. The session will show how teams can build compliance and security training that adapts to their organization, without adding more tools or manual work.

Tune in live to learn:

why one-size-fits-all compliance falls short
how teams tailor training with less effort
how better-fit programs reduce risk and drive results

Save your seat.

COMPLIANCE

Legislative lowdown

Francis Scialabba

The Department of Labor (DOL) explained how federal labor laws apply to different workplace situations in a series of six opinion letters released on Jan. 5.

This recent announcement is part of a broader push by the DOL to guide employers on compliance matters through opinion letters. Such letters lay out how the DOL and its sub-agencies enforce federal law and regulations when considering specific questions regarding the workplace.

The most recent opinion letters address questions concerning the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA). Here’s a quick rundown of what you need to know.

For more on the new DOL opinion letters, keep reading here.—CV

TECH

Too many cooks in the kitchen

President Donald Trump holds up a signed executive order in the Oval Office of the White House

When it comes to AI regulation, the Trump administration has decided that having one cook in the kitchen is better than 50.

In December, the Trump administration issued an executive order seemingly sidelining states’ AI laws in favor of a national policy framework. In the order, the administration argued that “excessive” state regulation “thwarts” innovation, and alleges that state laws are increasingly responsible for “requiring entities to embed ideological bias with [AI] models.”

For more on the implications for corporate America, keep reading on IT Brew.—CN

Together With WebMD Health Services

Wellness, one day at a time. It’s easy to say you want to make wellness a priority in 2026, but try telling that to mid-February you. WebMD Health Services’ 2026 wellness calendar helps keep well-being top of mind throughout the year. That way, HR leaders can support a healthier, more engaged workforce. Download the calendar here.

WORK PERKS

A desktop computer plugged into a green couch.

Francis Scialabba

Today’s top HR reads.

Stat: More than half of CEOs (56%) say AI hasn’t yet delivered “significant financial benefit” for their businesses. (PwC)

Quote: “For this not to be a bubble by definition, it requires that the benefits of this are much more evenly spread.”—Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said sectors other than tech need to realize the benefits of AI in order to avoid a much-feared bubble (Financial Times)

Read: Bathhouses are starting to eclipse bars as the favored after-work haunt of some young professionals. (Bloomberg)

JOBS

More focus, less fluff. CollabWORK filters out the noise and delivers jobs that actually match what HR Brew readers are looking for. Click here to see the full board of curated roles.

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Written by Paige McGlauflin, Courtney Vinopal, and Caroline Nihill

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☕️ Layoff announcements