Hey friend,
This week in work felt like a messy group chat where everyone is fighting but no one wants to admit it. Some people are quietly winning. Some are terrified. A few are pretending nothing is wrong while AI is quietly eating job descriptions for breakfast.
Learning prompt engineering feels exactly like DEI training:
In DEI, you learn how words shape experiences.
In AI prompts, you learn how words shape outputs.
In both, one word can change the outcome.
Both ask you to check for bias.
Both require context.
Whether you are guiding people or guiding machines, the work is about intentional communication to create better outcomes.
I almost didn’t write this week because I am exhausted from the hate. But HR folks like us already feel the weight. What we need is someone to say it out loud so we know we’re not the only ones wondering if this is sustainable.
So let’s talk about what actually went down.
🌟 The Good
Sometimes the workplace remembers we are human beings.
Walmart surprised us. Their 10 percent grocery discount is now year-round. Small on paper, huge if you are stretching paychecks.
PTO gets creative. Some companies let workers flip unused vacation into cash or student loan payments. Not perfect, but at least someone asked, “What would help right now?”
Pay transparency is inching forward. More employers are finally posting salary ranges. People are done with secrecy.
Upskilling funds. The Department of Labor released a $30 million grant fund to support training for shortage fields.
✨ Turns out listening works. People notice.
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⚠️ The Bad
This is the part where my stomach sank.
CEOs are bracing for cuts. For the first time since 2020, more predict layoffs than growth. Thirty-four percent expect cuts this year.
Indeed and Glassdoor cut 1,300 jobs. These are platforms people rely on to find work, and even they said, “We don’t need this many humans anymore.” The reason? AI.
Workers are scared — and right to be.
• Forty-five percent admit they secretly use AI tools to meet deadlines.
• Nearly half of Gen Z and millennials believe AI could replace them.IBM’s CEO bragged. Hundreds of HR roles were replaced with AI agents. Imagine being told your empathy is a “synergy.”
💡 Translation: AI is not on the horizon. It is already in the break room.
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Which part Hit You Hardest?
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😡 The Ugly (Text Block)
This part makes me want to throw my coffee.
DEI is being erased in real time. Mentions in S&P 500 filings dropped sixty-eight percent. Words like “racial” and “gender” are being scrubbed.
Even the giants are backtracking. Amazon, Google, Goldman Sachs. Quietly cutting under pressure.
And then there was Alabama. A neurodivergent cashier was harassed and fired: mocked, startled, called slurs, denied promotion. The EEOC forced a $40K settlement. This is 2025, not 1925.
But here’s a plot twist. A federal judge struck down two Trump-era moves to kill DEI in schools. Not corporate, but proof the pushback exists. The story isn’t finished.
🎯 What You Can Do
Ask your vendors: How do you test AI for bias? If they dodge, you have your answer.
In leadership meetings, drop this line: Culture outperforms compliance. Let the silence hang.
If your DEI program is being “renamed,” measure outcomes: promotion velocity, representation in slates, pay equity drift.
Double down on healthcare and skilled trades pipelines.
Stop banning AI. Give your teams guardrails instead. Transparency beats secrecy.
✍️ Reader Confession
“My VP said we can’t afford training this year, then spent $50k on a leadership offsite. Tell me again how retention is a priority?”
(Reply with your confession to be featured next week.)
😂 Humor Break (GIF Block)
💌 Jackye’s Pep Talk
If you spent the week holding your breath, wondering if layoffs are coming or watching your DEI budget disappear, let me remind you: you are the one keeping culture alive. People come to you when they need clarity, kindness, or just the truth. That matters.
🌍 The Human Signal
This week’s human-first move: A mid-sized tech firm added a “What the process looks like” section to every job posting, spelling out how many interviews, what exercises, and how decisions are made. Candidates said it was the most respectful process they’d ever seen.
Do today: Add three transparent lines to your next job description about your process.
💬 Closing Story
A friend came to me crying. She said in a whispered voice “My team is exhausted. They think AI is coming for their jobs, and leadership just killed our DEI budget.”
Then she smirked. “But you know what? We are still here. We are still building culture. AI cannot replace that.”
That is the note I’ll leave you with. The world of work will always shift. Sometimes gently. Sometimes like an earthquake. But HR’s heartbeat is still human. That is what keeps companies alive.
So this week, give your team one small reminder of that heartbeat: a conversation, a transparent answer, a guardrail instead of a rule.
See you Wednesday.
XOXO,
💜 Jackye
People Puzzles™
Solving the human side of business, one insight at a time.