HR Brew // Morning Brew // Update

January 17, 2025

Happy Friday! Now that 2025 is officially in full swing, you may be wondering, “Where did all of these assignments suddenly come from?” Remember all those “let’s circle back” emails you sent at the end of 2024? It’s okay to regret them now…

In today’s edition:

Appearances can be deceiving

Get your head in the game

So long, farewell

—Kristen Parisi, Paige McGlauflin

DE&I

Battle of words

Sopa Images/Getty Images

Some employers appear to have made concessions to espousers of anti-DE&I propaganda over the last two years, with Meta seemingly becoming the latest company to fall last week.

On the same day Meta announced it had dissolved its DE&I team, reports surfaced that Amazon had changed some of its DE&I language. In contrast, Apple was doubling down on its diversity commitments.

Despite the headlines (and move by Meta) Amazon, like Apple, appears to have maintained a robust DE&I program.

A closer look at Amazon. While headlines proclaimed that Amazon is “halting” some DE&I programs, referencing a December internal memo from Candi Castleberry, its VP of inclusive experiences and technology, it appears that these reports may have been overblown..

Keep reading here.—KP

Presented By Paradox

Turn 10 hours into 10 minutes

The best way to create a time-saving recruiting process? Learn from an org that just did..

Johnson Controls (JCI) found hiring magic with an AI-powered recruiting platform that integrates seamlessly with Workday—and it created a global, multilingual hiring process that just works for recruiters and candidates alike. Get all the deets in this in-depth case study from The Josh Bersin Company.

Here’s a sneak peek:

AI helps JCI hire across 174 countries while saving thousands of hours for recruiters.
JCI’s recruiters were toggling between systems and manually recording candidate responses, which put stress on the recruiters to create more touchpoints.
JCI implemented Emma, an AI assistant that integrates on top of Workday. Emma speaks 17 languages and simplifies the candidate experience through text conversations while automating administrative tasks to ease recruiter workload.
As a result, JCI lowered candidate response time from 10 hours to 10 minutes, with nearly 100% candidate satisfaction.

Read the full report.

DE&I

Game on

a mock 90s-era computer screen that mimics the Oregon Trail game, with an image about family planning for the player

Chief

Every elder millennial probably remembers the sheer stress of playing Oregon Trail in the ’90s. Traversing the country in spite of bad weather, animal attacks, and broken-down wagons, only to end up dying from dysentery before reaching the finish line.

Now, imagine playing that game in your late 30s, but make it corporate.

That’s what Chief just did with a new free game dubbed The Corporate Trail. Players navigate their own corporate journeys, earning points for likeability and well-being along the way. They can choose from four different departments—tech, marketing, operations, and, of course, HR—and play through scenarios like taking on more mentees and skipping a family event to handle a work crisis. But wait! There are also traps that lead to burnout, and inevitably, falling off the corporate ladder.

The game might seem a bit cringe at first, but the makers at Chief, a women’s forum for budding executives, said it’s meant to show the tightrope that women have to walk as they advance their careers.

Keep reading here.—KP

RECRUITMENT & RETENTION

Ditch these recruiting trends in 2025

Illustrated hand picks up one briefcase out of a lineup of several.

Westend61/Getty Images

This year was a tough one for recruiters.

As hiring demand declined amid a labor market cooldown, they were pummeled with a rapidly growing volume of applications from job seekers desperate to get their foot in the door—and angered when hiring teams didn’t respond.

So, when asked what trends they’d like to ditch in 2025, it’s arguably no surprise that many HR leaders focused on breaking the cycle of bad recruiting habits.

Keep reading here.—PM

Together With Built In

Stay ahead in 2025. With Built In, you can boost your brand and connect with the hardest-to-find talent. Showcase your team, culture, and open roles to over 5m highly skilled tech pros. Join Built In on Jan. 28 to discover key predictions for the year ahead, or chat with an expert today.

WORK PERKS

A desktop computer plugged into a green couch.

Francis Scialabba

Today’s top HR reads.

Stat: Some 46% of US employees would quit their jobs if they could not work remotely. (Pew Research Center)

Quote: “This is an economy that ended 2024 much better than expected and small businesses are taking advantage of that—that includes wages and compensation for the current employees.”—Nich Tremper, senior economist at Gusto, on SMBs’ year-end bonuses (CNBC)

Read: How some employees feel about DE&I dismantling efforts. (the Wall Street Journal)

Budgeting hiring: See how AI could be the tech investment that helps you + your TA teams save a whole lotta $$$. Read the full article here.*

^{*A message from our sponsor.}

SHARE THE BREW

Share HR Brew with your coworkers, acquire free Brew swag, and then make new friends as a result of your fresh Brew swag.

We’re saying we’ll give you free stuff and more friends if you share a link. One link.

Your referral count: 0

Click to Share

Or copy & paste your referral link to others:
hr-brew.com/r/?kid=9196cb13

ADVERTISE // CAREERS // SHOP // FAQ

Update your email preferences or unsubscribe .
View our privacy policy .

Copyright © 2025 Morning Brew Inc. All rights reserved.
22 W 19th St, 4th Floor, New York, NY 10011

☕️ Not exactly…