About this episode
Another full serving of red meat on The Chad & Cheese Podcast. Joel unleashes the layoff bloodbath: Amazon axes 14K corporate jobs for automation, Target cuts 1.8K amid sales slumps, GM drops 3K+, Rivian 600, UPS a brutal 48K. Military.com? DOA via Valnet. Chad blames UPS pain on automation, ditching Amazon volume, and shrinking wallets; ties GM to the EV tax-credit cliff—“Trump economy killer!” Joel says companies hate chaos, froze post-election, now tariffs (⅓ each: importer, company, consumer) drip inflation, crushing spending and jobs. Amazon’s BlueJay bots are coming for warehouses. Emi (Europe) confirms global instability fuels automation through ’27; Target may need holiday humans, but HQ already slashed layers. Mercor—those zygote founders roasted for bias-free matching—pivots to AI-model eval, grabs $350M Series C at $10B. 30K experts at $85/hr tell OpenAI why outputs rock or rot. Chad salutes the “picks-and-shovels” genius; Joel dubs it the mother of pivots. AuditBoard scoops FairNow for AI-governance; Chad smells PE acqui-hire for HG’s $180B empire, Joel’s skeptical—flat headcount, no terms, RecFest whispers “smoke.” Emi loves Mercor’s 500M ARR path, reserves FairNow judgment. iCIMS wakes up: AI Sourcing Agent, turnkey I-9/E-Verify (backgrounds/assessments next), Apply Network adds LinkedIn/Veritone. Chad groans—5 yrs post-Opening.io, 3 post-Candidate. ID, rebranding old tech as “agents” in me-too panic. Joel sees ATS arms race: bundle sourcing/SEO or lose to SmartRecruiter clones. Emi hopes CTO Deepak Pandya saves the day; Chad/Joel want retention—“We’ve got agents too!” H-1B mess: White House defends $100K fee vs. Chamber lawsuits over fraud/wage suppression. DeSantis bans H-1Bs at FL universities (13.6% biz faculty gone), citing Chinese nationals teaching U. S. policy. Chad recalls 2020 Chamber suit—immigrants power innovation/supply chains. BC runs Reagan ads during NHL, fast-tracks Trump-weary U. S. nurses: 1.4K+ apps, 113 registered, 100+ hired. Joel predicts Canada-wide poach; Emi: fee won’t spawn American nurses. Bold (Monster/CB owners) drops 2007 cringe-video: wrinkled CEO, Trumpasaurus, resume subs, predatory paid services. Chad gags at “ick,” slams Jeff Taylor for cheering a flaming brand. Joel: ChatGPT could do better; Emi: euthanize the dead horse—trust gone. Trio signs off with Joel the Chicken & Agent Chad pitching iCIMS mascot gigs. Death, taxes, layoffs—baby. Chapters00:00 - Intro13:32- Layoffs21:44 - AI News30:29 - iCIMS38:23 - H-1B47:04 - Bold