Shredded: Ando, Indeed, Septeni, Media House Holdings, Gallup, HiringCafe, Spott, & More

Chad Sowash (0:00)

Dude, it turns out that Winston, Smart Recruiter's first AI hiring sidekick, is taking all the grunt work out of Recruiter's Day.

Things like candidate screening, scheduling, all the admin garbage no one actually wants to touch. Winston can do it all.

Joel Cheesman (0:17)

Man, you know I'm a fan of using new tech that takes the boring, repetitive crap out of a recruiter's day, and allows them to have more time to connect with hiring managers and candidates.

Chad Sowash (0:29)

Yep, Winston is doing the heavy lifting while recruiters kick back and do the actual hiring stuff. You know, like talking to people.

Joel Cheesman (0:37)

I really dig that Smart Recruiters is evolving out of the legacy ATS model and embracing cleaner processes using AI. With most ATS providers, it's like, hey, 2003 called and it wants its 30-minute application process back.

Chad Sowash (0:53)

No doubt. It sounds like Rebecca and the team are using Winston to push Smart Recruiters into the future while the ATS vendors are basically on an AOL dial-up modem with a dashboard.

Joel Cheesman (1:05)

With Smart Recruiters, Winston does the grind and the recruiters get the glory.

Chad Sowash (1:11)

For more information on superhuman hiring with Winston, visit smartrecruiters.com. That's smartrecruiters.com.

Joel Cheesman (1:19)

Start using Winston today or I guess you can stick with...

Chad Sowash (1:25)

Now we return you to our regular scheduled program in progress.

Joel Cheesman (1:29)

Hide your kids, lock the doors. You're listening to HR's most dangerous podcast, Chad Sowash and Joel Cheesman.

Cole Cheesman (1:38)

Hi kids, it's Cole Cheesman and I'm bringing you The Shred for the first week of October 2026 The Shred is a weekly roundup of what's making headlines in the world of employment.

And now to the news in no particular order. San Francisco-based Ando emerged from stealth with $20 million in funding to launch an AI native team messaging platform designed to replace legacy tools like Slack. Ando integrates AI agents directly into channels, DMs and calls alongside human colleagues to automate workflow coordination. Indeed, State of the Job Seeker 2026 report reveals that 46% of candidates abandon applications due to tedious processes, with younger and active job seekers doing so most frequently. Additionally, the lengthy process negatively impacts many applicants' mental well-being and financial stability.

Japanese marketing firm Septeni Holdings will acquire recruitment support company Media Householdings for approximately 10.838 billion yen, or $68.4 million by November. The 100% stock purchase aims to combine Septeni's AI matching technology with Media House's SME customer base to expand its HR digital marketing share. According to a new Gallup report, 27% of US workers worry technology could make their jobs obsolete, an all-time high led by younger employees. While overall employment impacts remain modest, concerns grow as leaders and lawmakers navigate AI's workforce and societal effects. San Francisco-based job platform HiringCafe raised $6.8 million in pre-seed funding led by Spark Capital. The company utilizes proprietary scraping technology and AI agents to match job seekers directly with active listings from career pages without a paywall, using the funds to expand development.

Chad Sowash (3:48)

Another one.

Cole Cheesman (3:49)

Belgian recruitment startup, Spott, raised $21 million in Series A funding led by Baldurton Capital. The company will use the capital to expand globally, develop enterprise or product features, and advance its AI platform that unifies applicant tracking and candidate relationship management.

Chad Sowash (4:08)

Another one.

Cole Cheesman (4:09)

Icelandic HR automation platform, 50 Skills, raised $6 million in co-led funding to scale its AI operating system, designed to integrate existing tools and combine automated processes, AI agents, and human oversight. The platform targets administrative workloads. The investment will fund platform development and team expansion.

Chad Sowash (4:29)

Another one.

Cole Cheesman (4:30)

Meta has launched Muse for Small Business, an AI workplace agent that integrates with platforms like Slack, Zoom, and Salesforce, as well as Meta ad accounts. This release marks Meta's expansion into the enterprise sector to compete with OpenAI and Anthropic.

Chad Sowash (4:47)

Another one.

Cole Cheesman (4:48)

US job openings dropped to 7.08 million in August, below expectations. However, the labor market remains resilient despite higher energy costs. Layoffs fell, quit rates held steady, and low unemployment combined with steady monthly job growth continues to provide relative job security.

Chad Sowash (5:07)

Another one.

Cole Cheesman (5:08)

In September, the conference board's consumer confidence index dropped to 81.9, its lowest level since 2014, missing expectations. Decreased consumer optimism was driven by mounting concerns over inflation, rising fuel costs, higher interest rates, and a softening labor market. August job openings also fell below forecast. Be sure to tune in to the weekly show for this and more news and commentary from the world of recruiting. Cheesman out.