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As AI becomes standard in hiring, questions about bias, trust, and accountability are more urgent than ever. Join HR Brew and Gem to explore how HR and tech leaders are ensuring fairness, transparency, and responsible AI in recruiting.

Silhouettes of three people on a green background.

Fairness by Design: Rethinking AI Accountability in Hiring

An illustration of a photo of HR Brew reporter Paige McGlauflin.

Paige McGlauflin

These days, finding a needle in a haystack may actually be easier than finding top talent as a Fortune 500 company.

Telecoms giant Verizon hires 20,000 employees annually. It receives more than one million applications, with some roles, particularly frontline positions, netting more than 1,000 applicants.

“When we say high volume, we mean high volume,” Spring Lacy, Verizon’s global head of talent acquisition, culture and community, told HR Brew.

Verizon, like many other companies, has seen the volume of résumés it receives grow exponentially in recent years, as part of a trend that’s expected to continue as job seekers 

 to assist in their application process. Lacy spoke with HR Brew about her team’s process for identifying top candidates and initiatives for staying on top of the inflow of résumés.

Verizon ensures its recruiters understand the expertise the company is looking for in candidates.

“Our recruiters are really the first point of engagement with our candidates,” Lacy said. “They work really closely with our HR business partners and our business leaders to understand: What are the skills and experiences that someone will need to be successful in the role?”

Recruiters use assessments to evaluate knowledge when hiring for roles, such as high-volume or technical positions. When it comes to interviews—of which Verizon conducts more than 60,000 annually—recruiters follow specific guidelines, including questions specific to the roles they’re recruiting for. Hiring managers handle the final stages of the recruitment process.

While proud of the practices her team has established, Lacy said they’re planning to launch several projects in 2026 to make hiring even easier.

“Almost a million resumes to screen and 60,000 reviews is a lot. We know that there are technologies out there that can help with that, but we’re just at the beginning phases,” she said.

One initiative involves chatbots that candidates can engage with on Verizon’s careers website or through text messaging. The chatbots, for example, can help candidates determine what open jobs best fit their skills, experience, and location. They can also answer questions about job availability and help candidates apply for jobs more quickly and check the status of applications.

 of their jobs. “By the time you actually get to a recruiter, you’ve been very well cared for, and then the recruiter can just focus on deepening relationship and assessing skills,” Lacy said.

As AI becomes more commonplace in the hiring process, many job seekers have 

 with the technology’s use in candidate selection. “Folks feel like AI is making all the decisions and that they never really had a chance at Verizon. We don’t have AI making decisions about hiring. Full stop,” she said.

Lacy pointed out that these sorts of concerns aren’t exactly new—in fact, in the early 2000s, job seekers and recruiters 

 about internet job boards broadening the applicant pool and making the hiring process far less personal. She believes that AI can actually help address them. To that end, candidate experience, she added, will be a top priority next year.

“I think technology can help us to close that gap a little bit in terms of just helping people understand where they are in the process,” she said. “I always say people want news. Whether it’s good or bad, they just want to be informed.”

As her team further experiments with AI, she said they will need to maintain a balance between using the technology responsibly and not being left behind.

“We just want to make sure that we proceed with enough caution that allows us to make sure that there’s integrity in the process, but not so much caution that slows us down and doesn’t allow us to leverage such a fantastic technology that, literally, at this point, is sitting in our laps,” she said.

A cutout of a woman, Spring Lacy, Verizon’s global head of talent acquisition, breaking the frame of an abstract shape with V shaped icons on each side.

How Verizon handles more than 1 million applications annually—and its plans for AI in hiring

Addressing job seekers’ grievances about AI in hiring is also top of mind.

How Verizon handles more than 1 million job applications annually—and plans to use AI to streamline the process

Adam DeRose

Good news for people who think that there could be a better way to find and recruit new hires (so, basically everyone): New research reveals that AI is delivering in recruiting by transforming talent acquisition (TA) into a new more strategic and tactical role for high-performing firms.

 outlines how TA pros are changing the way talent is recruited and requisitions are delivered, to the tune of faster times to fill, stronger matches between candidates and roles, and improved insights on how to secure said talent. The Josh Bersin Company produced the research with HR strategy group AMS, and released it last week at the HR Technology conference in Las Vegas.

The hiring landscape reveals growing demand for new “high-precision” AI tools that assist in the TA process, from recruitment, assessment, and interviewing, to hiring and beyond.

“This idea of precision talent acquisition is almost the perfect word that describes where this is all going,” Bersin told HR Brew, adding that the tools being developed and available for talent teams now offer insights on broad sets of data that can better advise matches between roles and candidates.

With talent data and AI-powered workforce tools, companies can better understand their needs and the different ways those needs can be met, whether by new hires or internal candidates or something else all together, and better connect individual siloed hiring managers across organizations.

“Because it has more automation and more data, the function is getting more strategic,” Bersin said.

New AI in recruiting isn’t just solving specific isolated issues along each step of the hiring process—it’s reshaping the entire infrastructure and changing how companies interact with and understand their own talent.

Bersin said CHROs and HR leaders need to make the case to the C-suite that when headcount decisions are under consideration, the talent team, and their data-informed insights, can help deliver that precision in strategy.

Armed with robust talent data and AI tools, TA teams, he contends, are more than the “Amazon fulfillment center for people.”

An office full of silhouettes of workers filled with The Matrix-style cascading computer code

AI is helping talent acquisition evolve beyond the “Amazon fulfillment center of people” 

A new Josh Bersin Company report predicts AI will change the way companies interact with their talent.

There’s good news and bad news for anyone who felt like things were not as they appeared to be with the labor market.

The good news: You weren’t crazy. And the bad news: The labor market was performing 

 worse than initially reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

Employers added 911,000 fewer jobs between April 2024 and March 2025 than previously reported, according to a 

The preliminary benchmark, accounting for around 76,000 fewer jobs a month on average, is the largest downward revision since 2002. By comparison, 

 downsized job growth by 818,000 (though it was later adjusted to 598,000), and a revision in March 2009 downsized growth by 902,000.

Despite being released in September 2025, the benchmark is unrelated to the latest employment situation data from the BLS, which found that employers added 

“The latest economic data—which are wholly unaffected by today’s preliminary revisions—suggest the labor market is weakening for all workers,” Elise Gould and Ben Zipperer, senior economists at the Economic Policy Institute, 

 via the nonprofit. “Job growth has been especially weak since May. Household survey rates also point to falling prime-age Black employment and higher unemployment for US-born workers.”

Leisure and hospitality saw the steepest downward revision of all major industries, adding 176,000 fewer jobs than originally reported. That was followed by professional and business services and retail trade, which saw declines of 158,000 and 126,200, respectively.

However, transportation and warehousing and utilities both had more job growth than initially reported, adding 6,600 and 3,700, respectively.

Each year, the BLS adjusts its employment numbers for a specific period, originally taken from its monthly establishment survey, using estimates from state unemployment insurance tax records as its benchmark. These records are less timely, but more comprehensive than the BLS’s survey, which has in recent years 

 to get robust response rates. The BLS is expected to release its full revision early next year.

One reason for the discrepancies between the monthly survey data and revisions may be how immigration is factored into each report, Ron Hetrick, principal economist at Lightcast, 

. State unemployment insurance records only include workers who are eligible for unemployment, not undocumented workers who are on employers’ payrolls and pay taxes but ineligible for unemployment benefits. Meanwhile, the monthly survey data does not ask about immigration status. And, as the Trump administration began revoking the legal statuses of thousands of immigrants, they were removed from payroll counts.

“There were more people working on payrolls and that is what the survey is measuring. Now they aren’t,” Hetrick wrote. “These people drove growth and were initially counted, and now they are leaving payrolls.”

 Tuesday’s revisions come as the Trump administration has 

 to the agency’s data and practices. President Trump’s nominee to lead the BLS has advocated for releasing the jobs report on a quarterly basis to ensure what he claimed is greater accuracy. But economists reacting to Tuesday’s benchmark data noted that despite its flaws, it’s better to take the monthly report for important talent-related decision making than have to wait months to get that data.

“If I had to choose between less accurate information today to guide a decision, versus more accurate data four months from now—after the decision is made—I’d always choose the former,” Kory Kantenga, head of economics for the Americas at LinkedIn, 

An illustration of a businessman slipping down a downward trending line graph.

Employers added 910 fewer jobs than initially estimated, per BLS revision

Tuesday’s preliminary benchmark from the BLS marks the largest downward revision of employment data in recent history.

Employers added 910,000 fewer jobs than the BLS originally estimated

The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ August 

 was, well, not good. Employers made few job gains, while the unemployment rate rose to its highest level in years. As the labor market slowed further this summer, experts have again sounded the alarm about an economic downturn. Let’s take a closer look.

Employers added just 22,000 jobs in August, well below 

 of 75,000. Meanwhile, June job gains were revised down by 13,000, and July job gains were revised up to 79,000. The unemployment rate increased to 4.3%, the highest seen since October 2021.

 that a recession may be imminent, while Mark Zandi, an economist at Moody’s, 

 that the labor market is already in one, and has been since June, Business Insider reported. While one month of data is not enough evidence of a recession, the unemployment rate rising while job gains are slowing is a concerning early sign, said Glassdoor’s chief economist, Daniel Zhao, noting if this trend continues in the coming months, it could trigger the Sahm rule (a recession indicator).

“A more substantial downturn is definitely something that businesses have to plan for,” Zhao said. “It’s not a guarantee, but especially with the increasing unemployment rate there are more signs that the job market is weakening in an unhealthy manner.”

Amy Glaser, SVP of business operations at staffing firm Adecco, cautioned employers against letting the topline August numbers drive their talent decision-making.

“We’ll have to wait and see what comes out in September. At this point, I’m still optimistic the labor market is going to remain resilient and strong,” she said. “We’ve called 2025 the year of durability in terms of the labor market. Unemployment changed very minimally, so there’s still opportunity out there for millions of Americans on a daily basis.”

Healthcare added around 31,000 jobs in August, the largest increase of any industry but also below the average monthly gains of 42,000 that the sector reported over the last year. The healthcare industry has made up the bulk of the labor market’s job gains in recent years, and now a moderation in healthcare hiring may not adequately make up for cooling in other sectors.

“There’s no guarantee that healthcare will continue to add jobs at the pace that we’ve seen in recent years. So even if healthcare is continuing to add jobs in the short to medium term, it might not be enough to outweigh the declines in jobs that we’re seeing across all other industries,” Zhao said.

Healthcare was followed by social assistance, which added more than 16,000 jobs, and accommodation and food services, which added over 13,000 jobs. Additionally, retail trade added 10,000 jobs, mostly driven by general merchandising.

Meanwhile, professional and business services reported a decline, with 17,000 fewer jobs added—the steepest of any industry. That sector was followed by durable goods manufacturing and the federal government, which added 19,000 and 15,000 fewer jobs, respectively.

Unfortunately for employers, it’s uncertain how the economy will play out over the next few months. The Federal Reserve is expected to meet and cut interest rates later this month. Lower interest rates could free up cash for businesses and allow them to pursue business investments that lead to hiring.

“Overall, I would say that rate cuts will be stimulative, but it’s not a guarantee that it will outweigh some of these other factors that aren’t related to rates at all,” Zhao said.

The other primary factor at play is tariffs. Despite being locked up in court challenges, many of President Donald Trump’s 

 went into effect in August, charging a 10% to 50% tax on imported goods, depending on the origin country. The impact of tariffs on consumers and businesses isn’t yet known, though sectors like retail and leisure and hospitality—both of which reported employment gains in August—will likely be negatively affected, according to Zhao.

In light of this uncertainty, Glaser said employers are focused on making multiple contingency plans.

“I think if Covid taught us anything as employers, it taught us the ability to be agile and to move quickly,” she said. “So employers are trying to get ahead of it, as we speak today.”

Weak August jobs data is bad news for employers

“A more substantial downturn is definitely something that businesses have to plan for,” an economist tells HR Brew.

Abysmal August jobs report puts recession fears back on employers’ radar

The dog days of summer are coming to an end, and the labor market is already experiencing a frost.

Employers reported a decline in job openings in July, while all other turnover including hiring and separations stagnated from June, according to Wednesday’s 

job openings and labor turnover survey (JOLTS) data

 from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Let’s take a closer look.

Employers reported 7.2 million job openings in July, down from 7.4 million in June. Meanwhile, organizations made 5.3 million hires, and saw 3.2 million quits and 1.8 million layoffs and discharges in July, all unchanged from June.

“Employer cautiousness continues,” Rajesh Namboothiry, SVP at Manpower US, told HR Brew. “They’re not hiring, but they’re not firing either.”

Additionally, the ratio of job openings per unemployed person edged up slightly to 1 in July, which Namboothiry said is a bad sign for job seekers. “It is getting tough for job seekers,” he said, adding, “We know that from data, we know that from talking to our talent, that it is getting tougher for them to find jobs. There are less jobs and more job seekers.”

Healthcare and social assistance reported the steepest drop in job openings (a trend supported by 

), declining by 181,000 between June and July, followed by retail trade and arts, entertainment, and recreation, which fell by 110,000 and 62,000, respectively.

In professional and business services, quits increased by 197,000, the largest spike of any industry, while layoffs fell by 130,000. Meanwhile, quits declined the most in construction (down by 80,000), transportation, warehousing, and utilities, and accommodation and food services (both down by 49,000).

Manufacturing was a bright spot in Wednesday’s data, reporting a 41,000 spike in job openings and an increase of 21,000 hires between June and July.

“We have seen that over the last couple of months manufacturing activities have slightly picked up locally,” Namboothiry said. “So that is an indication that we may see some pockets of manufacturing jobs to be added, skilled trade jobs added, which is a positive.”

HR and TA leaders should expect sluggish turnover to continue in the coming months. While 

 from the Federal Reserve later this month could stimulate some business activity and boost hiring, other challenges—including 

—will likely force businesses to continue their trepidatious approach.

As economic uncertainty festers, businesses will likely continue pursuing short-term talent strategies. Namboothiry said he hasn’t had long-term workforce planning conversations with clients for several months now.

“There was a time when they were looking a year ahead. Now it’s not even a quarter ahead,” Namboothiry said.

A Now Hiring sign with Now crossed out and replaced with Not

July’s sluggish JOLTS data is a sign of what’s to come

Despite rate cuts expected this month, continued economic challenges are expected to only further stagnate labor turnover.

The labor market cooled even further in July. It’s only expected to continue.

Following major shakeups at the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), September’s labor market data has many on their toes.

President Donald Trump fired BLS commissioner Erika McEntarfar on Aug. 1, following a 

 that estimated employers added only 73,000 jobs in July and revised job growth down by 258,000 in May and June.

“She will be replaced with someone much more competent and qualified. Important numbers like this must be fair and accurate, they can’t be manipulated for political purposes,” Trump 

 on his social media platform. There has been zero evidence of “rigged” data on her part.

McEntarfar’s removal raised concerns among experts including former BLS commissioners (appointed by both Democratic and Republic presidents), who warned it could 

 Then, on Aug. 11, Trump nominated a replacement: E.J. Antoni, chief economist of the Heritage Foundation, the conservative think tank that published Project 2025.

 in front of the Senate HELP Committee this month, has been met with outcry from many economists, who’ve said he is 

 to lead the BLS and fear he would use the agency and its data to 

further the Trump administration’s political agenda

, rather than report objective statistics.

The outcry sends a worrying signal to HR and talent acquisition (TA) leaders, who use BLS data for everything from forecasting changes in labor supply and demand by location to tracking wage growth by industry.

“Bipartisan groups, including former BLS officials and commissioners, economists, watchdog orgs, condemned that firing as a literal threat to statistical independence… [that] is something that will make every chief people officer, every economist, every talent acquisition leader, raise their eyebrows quite a bit,” Matt Staney, VP of community at HIGHER Community, a professional group that counts more than 12,000 senior TA leaders among its members, told HR Brew.

At the time of McEntarfar’s firing, Lauren Winans, CEO and principal HR consultant at Next Level Benefits, assumed that the BLS commissioner must have done something “really egregious” to warrant her dismissal, until she looked at the revisions.

“But then when you dig into it, the updates and the revisions that were made to the data are pretty standard, because it’s statistical data, and because things are collected in somewhat of an antiquated way, and there are delays,” she said, adding later, “I thought the rush to judgment to immediately go after the commissioner was a little shortsighted, because then it creates this crack in the stability and the credibility of the agency itself.”

. But proposals from the Trump administration and Antoni to “improve the data”—by 

 for a quarterly, for example—could impact how HR leaders craft their hiring strategies, Winans said. Additionally, after significant methodological changes, it could take months before the data is trustworthy again.

“Certainly if they make a shift in methodology, I probably would give it at least a couple of cycles before I maybe trust the data, because when you switch that methodology, that does kind of create some significant change in the way the numbers look and how long it takes to kind of catch up with itself,” Winans said, noting she would continue to use the data as one of several indicators of economic health.

However, McEntarfar’s baseless firing over an upsetting jobs report has already sowed mistrust in future data among HR and TA leaders, said Staney. Employers were planning their hiring strategies on a quarterly basis, as crises from policies like tariffs worsened economic uncertainty. As the integrity of the jobs data creates more uncertainty, TA leaders’ planning will only become more short term.

“When TA leaders pitch workforce strategy to execs, they need to be able to point to independent and trusted sources, and we’re running out of those now, if these sources become political tools,” said Staney. “If he just implants a loyalist into the BLS to just paint whatever picture he wants, we’re going to be flying completely blind, and nobody’s going to trust anything, and companies are not going to hire in a healthy way, and our unemployment situation will worsen.”

President Donald Trump stands in the oval office, with large printouts of economic graphs stacked on the Resolute desk