Shredded: Intermezzo, Meta, Oracle, LinkedIn, BoomerangHR, Glassdoor, Workday, & More

The Shred is a weekly roundup of what’s making headlines in the world of employment. The Shred is brought to you today by Jobcase.

• 0:00Speaker 00

  Dude, it turns out that Winston Smart Recruiters' first AI hiring sidekick is taking all the grunt work out of recruiters' day. Things like candidate screening, scheduling, all the admin garbage no one actually wants to touch. Winston can do it all.

• 0:17Speaker 01

  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.

• 0:29Speaker 00

  Yep, Winston is doing the heavy lifting while recruiters kick back and do the actual hiring stuff. You know, like talking to people.

• 0:37Speaker 01

  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.

• 0:53Speaker 00

  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.

• 1:05Speaker 01

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

• 1:11Speaker 00

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

• 1:19Speaker 01

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

• 1:25Speaker 02

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

• 1:29Speaker 03

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

• 1:38Speaker 04

  Hi kids, it's Cole Cheeseman, and I'm bringing you the shred for the third week of September 2026. The shred is a weekly roundup of what's making headlines in the world of employment.

• 1:52Speaker 04

  And now to the news in no particular order. Intermezzo, a Menlo Park, California-based global payroll infrastructure company, raised $10 million in funding from investors including Crosslink Capital and UKG Ventures. The capital will be used to expand operations and grow the business reach of its platform.

• 2:12Speaker 05

  Another one.

• 2:14Speaker 04

  Meta is introducing an opt-in program asking select individual contributors in its Applied AI Division to return to management roles. This particularly reverses Meta's recent effort to flatten organizational layers, trim middle management, and create leaner teams following a major restructuring earlier this year.

• 2:36Speaker 05

  Another one.

• 2:38Speaker 04

  Austin, Texas-based Oracle expanded its 2026 restructuring plan by $700 million, raising the total estimated cost to $2.8 billion. Driven by mounting AI data center capital expenditures, the increased job cuts and exit fees follow a 13% workforce reduction linked to AI deployment.

• 2:58Speaker 05

  Another one.

• 3:01Speaker 04

  A U.S. federal judge dismissed two class-action lawsuits against LinkedIn regarding its scanning of users' browser extensions. The judge ruled that the plaintiffs failed to establish legal standing by not alleging any concrete personal privacy violations or private data exposure.

• 3:19Speaker 05

  Another one.

• 3:22Speaker 04

  According to a proposed class-action lawsuit filed September 14, 2026, LinkedIn was sued for alleged market monopolization. Plaintiffs claim the company forced customers to upgrade to higher-tier subscriptions such as Sales Navigator Advanced Plus to retain previously included features, reducing purchase value and limiting alternative choices.

• 3:45Speaker 05

  Another one.

• 3:47Speaker 04

  LinkedIn is expanding its AI tool, Hiring Assistant, beyond sourcing into candidate pre-screening, interview analysis, and recruiter guidance. While recruiters retain final hiring decisions, the expanded AI capability significantly narrowed candidate pools and shaped the evaluation criteria used throughout the selection process.

• 4:07Speaker 05

  Another one.

• 4:09Speaker 04

  Boomerang HR, a New York-based AI offboarding and alumni management platform led by founder and CEO Jeff Wald, raised $12.7 million in seed funding. The round was co-led by Kalos Ventures and Album Ventures, with funds targeted for operational expansion and product development.

• 4:29Speaker 05

  Another one.

• 4:30Speaker 04

  A new Glassdoor report reveals that 76% of millennials question their career paths, facing higher rates of burnout, layoff concerns, and job insecurity than other generations. Consequently, many are delaying major life milestones and pursuing additional skills such as AI training to improve job stability.

• 4:50Speaker 05

  Another one.

• 4:51Speaker 04

  On September 10, 2026, Workday appointed Sarah Kennedy Ellis as Chief Marketing Officer, effective October 5, 2026. Reporting to CEO Anil Bhusri, she will oversee global marketing and communications. Kennedy Ellis previously held marketing leadership roles at Google Cloud, Adobe, and Marketo.

• 5:11Speaker 05

  Another one.

• 5:13Speaker 04

  Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Mark Takano introduced the 32-Hour Workweek Act, which would gradually reduce the federal overtime threshold from 40 to 32 hours over four years while protecting worker pay. However, passage remains unlikely under current Republican control of Congress.

• 5:33Speaker 05

  Another one.

• 5:35Speaker 04

  During a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, FBI Director Cash Patel defended policy changes allowing victims of prostitution and bestiality to apply. Patel also faced Democratic criticism regarding his firings of agents who investigated Donald Trump and refused to rule out deploying agents to polling locations.

• 5:56Speaker 04

  Be sure to tune in to the weekly show for this and more news and commentary from the world of recruiting. Cheeseman out.

• 6:06Speaker 04

  Adios, turd nuggets.