RECRUITMENT & RETENTION

Illustration: Morning Brew Inc., Photos: Adobe Stock, Unsplash

Some movement is coming back to the labor market. Despite a tepid jobs report in September, where employers added just 29,000 jobs, labor turnover for the month picked up that month. Employers reported a monthly increase in job openings, hires, and quits, per the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ JOLTS data released Tuesday. While the data brings some optimism for the labor market, employers and job seekers alike are still a ways away before recovery—and better opportunities—materializes, experts tell HR Brew.

Diving into the data. Employers had 7.5 million job openings posted at the end of September, increasing by more than 333,000 from August, and up nearly half a million from September 2025. Total hires, however, saw a more moderate monthly increase compared to total quits. Employers reported making 5.4 million hires in September, up 131,000 from August, though the hiring rate rose little during that period, to 3.4%.

Despite hiring increasing modestly, the labor market saw a large jump in workers leaving their jobs. Within total separations, around 3.4 million workers reportedly quit in September, increasing by 321,000 month over month, and up by more than 375,000 year over year. The quit rate rose to 2.1%, its highest since June 2025.

Zoom out. Employers aren’t in the clear yet. September’s labor turnover spike follows a long period of sluggishness, where neither employers nor workers saw any movement. Given hiring didn’t increase in the same way that job openings or quits did that month, workers likely still feel frustration over a lack of opportunities available to them and anxiety over job security. That could hurt engagement in the short-term, and eventually retention, as workers’’ frustrations with their employers simmer, according to our sources.

For more on what the latest JOLTS data means for HR, keep reading here.—PM

      

Sponsored By Equifax

Since the end of the year’s approaching, we know you’ve got a to-do list of things to get squared away. Form I-9 belongs on that list.

Completing one can look straightforward, but who are we kidding—even routine hiring situations involve complicated documentation and tricky timing. And as organizations continue to support remote hiring and navigate evolving immigration policies, the scenarios keep getting less routine.

Equifax’s checklist, Helping Navigate Complex Form I-9 Scenarios, covers several commonly misunderstood situations and the practical considerations behind each one.

It’s the kind of list worth reading before you need it, rather than in the middle of an audit.

Understanding how to approach these scenarios can help reduce errors and support more effective I-9 processing…which is a better position to start a new year in.

Download the checklist.

TOTAL REWARDS

Jeffrey MacMillan/Getty Images

A fast-casual chain favored by the office lunch set is sweetening compensation packages for managers at its restaurants.

Starting next year, Sweetgreen managers will be eligible to earn more than $200,000 a year if they meet certain milestones set by the company. The new offering, which will be paid through a mix of base salary and equity, is intended to empower managers who contribute to the business’s success, and “[share] those wins with those that are driving it,” co-founder and CEO Jonathan Neman said.

Under the new incentive plan, Sweetgreen managers (known as “head coaches”) will see their base pay increase by up to 45% if they work at restaurants with higher sales volume. The company declined to specify how high sales need to be to meet this threshold.

When restaurants outperform their sales goals, managers will get a revenue share bonus from the upside, with the percentage increasing based on their tenure in the business. Managers can also continue to receive equity in the company based on their performance.

For more on how Sweetgreen is making the case for higher pay, keep reading here.—CV

      

TECH

Morning Brew Inc.

Several companies have shown in recent weeks how quickly AI is upending everything about our jobs. It’s increasingly the bot you have to impress to land one, a tool you have to use in interviews—and the metric used to judge whether you deserve to keep your role.

What happened? Congrats, you (already) got the job. Now just “re-interview” for it. That’s the new hoop that privacy-focused email provider Proton is asking some staff to jump through—all to ensure they’re sufficiently AI-pilled. This interview do-over could lead to role changes and even affect “continued employment,” per a company email (though, in a Reddit comment, the firm claimed it’s “not doing layoffs and using AI as an excuse”).

How widespread is this use case? While Proton is the only company we know of that’s making staff do a second audition for their jobs, it’s far from alone in using AI as a litmus test for grading employees. A larger shift is underway to sort the workers bosses think will thrive in the AI era from the ones they think will flounder.

For more on how AI is changing the way employees are evaluated, keep reading on Tech Brew.—WK

      

Sponsored By Equifax

Small fields, big consequences. Reporting CHOICE (formerly ICHRA) plans under the ACA means assigning indicator codes on Forms 1095-C. According to 2026 Equifax data, there are over 80 code combinations available for CHOICE plans—and 25% of them can be invalid. Equifax breaks down what’s changed and what a misclassification can mean for Employer Shared Responsibility Payments. Read more.

work perks

Francis Scialabba

Today’s top HR reads.

Stat: $6.3 billion. That’s how much a hacker and a bogus job scam can cost one company. A North Korean hacker group managed to use a fake job posting to finesse billions in crypto from Binance, the world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange platform. (Bloomberg)

Quote: “You can spend all your time, every single day, looking at apps or looking at a blog, or looking at a podcast to see what they’re doing. But that is different than going to an event in person and hearing other people’s experiences, other people’s use cases, and other people’s hacks.”—Andrea Huspeni, an entrepreneur, who is trading traditional happy hours for after-hours hackathons in order to grow professionally while staying socially connected (Business Insider)

Read: President Trump and conservatives in his administration are decrying the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, claiming that the Biden-era protections went too far when it came to abortion and fertility treatments. (the New York Times)

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Illustration: Amelia Kinsinger, Photos: Adobe Stock

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