Shredded: LinkUp, Robert Half, Lyft, Ahron, Personio, TechWolf, LinkedIn, & More

SPEAKER_1 (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.

Chad Sowash (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.

SPEAKER_1 (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.

Chad Sowash (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.

SPEAKER_1 (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.

Chad Sowash (1:05)

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

SPEAKER_1 (1:11)

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

Chad Sowash (1:19)

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

SPEAKER_1 (1:25)

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

Chad Sowash (1:29)

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

Joel Cheesman (1:38)

Hey kids, it's Cole Cheesman and I'm bringing you The Shred for the second 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. Data from LinkUp indicates rising job openings across most US regions and sectors in September. Based on this labor demand, LinkUp forecast a net gain of 135,000 jobs for September, exceeding the consensus estimate of 90,000, and anticipates even stronger job growth in October.

Robert Half's 2027 Salary Guide reveals 57% of employers offer higher-than-planned starting pay to secure specialized talent, particularly for AI skills. US salaries are projected to grow by an average of 1.9%, with compensation transparency and flexible work schedules key to attracting candidates. Lyft agreed to a $272.5 million settlement with California and three cities to resolve allegations of driver misclassification and wage violations between 2016 and 2020 Drivers will receive at least $237 million. State and city officials continue similar litigation against Uber.

SPEAKER_1 (3:03)

Another one.

Joel Cheesman (3:05)

Munich-based HR tech startup Ahron raised 2.2 million euro in a funding round led by Cusp Capital. The company will use the capital to scale its AI agent-based platform across existing enterprise HR software and support its international expansion.

SPEAKER_1 (3:21)

Another one.

Joel Cheesman (3:22)

Personio has acquired Berlin-based spend management platform, Circula, to unify HR payroll expenses and benefits into a single platform. Building on an existing partnership, the deal integrates Circula's spend management features into Personio's workforce offerings. Circula will now operate as Circula by Personio.

SPEAKER_1 (3:43)

Another one.

Joel Cheesman (3:45)

SAP announced an agreement to acquire Belgian AI startup TechWolf to integrate its skills context graph into SAP success factors. The acquisition aims to enhance HR agents, like Julie, with detailed employee work data, improving token efficiency and lowering operational costs for talent management and workforce planning.

Chad Sowash (4:05)

Another one.

Joel Cheesman (4:07)

After 18 years at LinkedIn, including six as CEO, Ryan Roslansky announced his departure. His decision was driven by a requirement to work full time at Microsoft's Redmond headquarters. Choosing instead to remain in the Bay Area. He will advise Microsoft through year end. Be sure to tune in to the weekly show for this and more news and commentary from the world of recruiting. Cheesman out.

Adios turd nuggets.