Shredded: Pine, Fronted, Findem, Getro, & 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 Recruiter's first AI hiring sidekick is taking all the grunt work out of Recruiter's 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 second week of December 2025. 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. The online community, workers of all kinds, like hourly employees, tradespeople, and healthcare technicians, access jobs, make connections, and support each other in every aspect of their work life. Jobcase has over 100 million workers on their platform, so if you need to hire, you probably need to talk to Jobcase today. Learn more by going to jobcase.com/hire. Again, that's jobcase.com/hire.

• 2:20Speaker 04

  And now to the news in no particular order. Palo Alto, California-based PINE secured $25 million in Series A funding to advance its autonomous Ask and It's Done AI agent. This brings total funding to $30 million. The company plans to improve liability, privacy, and learning capabilities while expanding U.S. operations. PINE's tool handles tasks like negotiating bills, canceling subscriptions, filing complaints, securing refunds, and managing communications.

• 2:50Speaker 05

  Another one.

• 2:52Speaker 04

  Freelancers in the 30 largest U.S. markets earned $208 billion in 2024 with rising populations and incomes. New York-led earnings and technical freelancers in Las Vegas earned the highest averages. Nationally, 6.9 million skilled independents made $319 billion as freelancing continued expanding across major hubs.

• 3:16Speaker 05

  Another one.

• 3:17Speaker 04

  Norway-based Fronted raised $1 million to expand its AI-driven platform that unifies global hiring, onboarding, payroll, and compliance. The startup aims to simplify cross-border employment as ARR grows 230% since July 2025 with funds supporting product development and engineering improvements.

• 3:38Speaker 05

  Another one.

• 3:40Speaker 04

  Redwood City, California-based Findem acquired Boulder, Colorado-based Gettrau to support the rollout of its intelligent job post feature, which uses autonomous AI agents to source and qualify candidates. Gettrau's job board and network tools will remain active as customers gain access to Findem's capabilities. Terms weren't disclosed.

• 4:04Speaker 05

  Another one.

• 4:06Speaker 04

  A Maryland man received five months in prison for helping overseas, likely North Korean, IT workers pose as U.S. citizens to secure remote tech jobs. He used falsified credentials across multiple companies, enabling foreign access to sensitive systems and generating nearly $1 million in fraudulent earnings.

• 4:28Speaker 05

  Another one.

• 4:30Speaker 04

  U.S. job openings edged up in October, but hiring fell and quits dropped to a five-year low, signaling cooling labor demand. September's surge in vacancies and ongoing economic uncertainty underscore a no hire, no fire trend as the Fed weighs another rate cut. Be sure to tune into the weekly show for this and more news and commentary from the world of recruiting. Big thanks to Jobcase for supporting the shred. No matter the size of your company, you can quickly find great workers in the Jobcase community. Whether you need one employee around the corner or want to hire hundreds across the country, Jobcase helps you find the right people fast. Hit up jobcase.com/hire to learn more.

• 5:12Speaker 04

  Again, that's jobcase.com/hire. Cheeseman out.