[04MAY] Paper Cut - Weekly Employer Branding Headlines

TRUST IS TANKING

RTO resentment, AI anxiety, and DEI dysfunction: welcome back to Paper Cut after a two-week Easter hiatus. This week, we’re diving into a volatile talent landscape where managers are getting squeezed, middle-aged employees are targeted, and tech workers are being paid to do nothing (sometimes literally).

✂️ Layoffs hit older workers hardest and severance packages keep headlines juicy

🤖 AI replaces jobs, rewrites roles, and reshapes education

🏢 RTO continues to divide leadership and staff

📉 Employer trust is crumbling under hypocrisy and hollow platitudes

🧠 DEI takes another public hit

Don’t forget to subscribe for weekly analysis on the headlines shaping HR, employer branding, and the future of work.

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🔗 Links From This Episode

✂️ Layoffs, Severance & Ageism

• Goldman Sachs offers $80K severance amid layoffs:

https://www.efinancialcareers.com/news/goldman-sachs-plans-severance-pay-of-80k-per-person-as-it-cuts-staff

• Americans brace for more job cuts:

https://www.newsweek.com/americans-brace-layoffs-jobs-market-2057975

• Employees in their 40s top layoff list, CEO warns:

https://m.economictimes.com/magazines/panache/employees-in-40s-are-now-no-1-layoff-targets-ceo-warns-he-suggest-3-survival-tips/articleshow/120118428.cms

• Middle managers under fire at big tech firms:

https://www.peoplematters.in/article/talent-management/middle-managers-under-fire-layoffs-at-google-amazon-and-other-big-firms-45112

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🤖 AI Job Disruption & Future of Work

• AI replacing contract workers at Duolingo:

https://www.theverge.com/news/657594/duolingo-ai-first-replace-contract-workers

• AI’s impact on job security:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jackkelly/2025/04/25/the-jobs-that-will-fall-first-as-ai-takes-over-the-workplace/

• How AI is redefining education and employment:

https://www.entrepreneur.com/science-technology/how-ai-is-redefining-education-and-the-future-of-work/489575

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🏢 Return to Office Drama

• WFH workers seen as less promotable:

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/558382/employee-survey-finds-majority-believe-those-who-wfh-are-less-likely-to-be-promoted

• Companies that ended remote work now struggling to hire:

https://glassalmanac.com/companies-that-ended-remote-work-are-struggling-to-fill-vacancies/

• Google sends harsh message post-layoffs:

https://www.thestreet.com/employment/google-sends-a-harsh-message-to-employees-after-layoffs

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🏆 Employer Branding vs Reality

• Apple tops list of Singapore’s best employers:

https://www.straitstimes.com/business/apple-retains-top-ranking-of-singapores-best-employers-with-asia-pacific-breweries-at-no-2

• LVMH quietly cuts workforce amid growth:

https://www.businessoffashion.com/news/luxury/lvmh-moet-hennessy-workforce-cuts/

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📉 DEI Under Fire (Again)

• Trump touts new “system of merit” to replace DEI:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2025/05/01/trump-dei-system-of-merit/83394689007/

• “Deport Every Illegal” DEI tweet from the White House:

https://x.com/WhiteHouse/status/1918336139200741381

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💼 Looking for jobs in employer branding, HR, or recruitment marketing?

Browse our job board: https://jobs.employerbranding.news/

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