The Chad & Cheese Podcast
Original podcast
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.
975 words · 7 speakers
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.
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.
Yep, Winston is doing the heavy lifting while recruiters kick back and do the actual hiring stuff. You know, like talking to people.
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.
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.
With Smart Recruiters, Winston does the grind and the recruiters get the glory.
For more information on superhuman hiring with Winston, visit smartrecruiters.com. That's smartrecruiters.com.
Start using Winston today, or I guess you can stick with...
Now we return you to our regular scheduled program in progress.
Hi, your kids. Lock the doors. You're listening to HR's most dangerous podcast. Chad Soash and Joel Cheeseman.
Hi, kids. It's Cole Cheeseman, and I'm bringing you The Shred for the first week of February 2026. 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 where 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.
And now to the news in no particular order. Wabi Innovation, a Toronto-based autonomous driving startup, raised $1 billion to expand its self-driving truck technology and enter the robo-taxi market. The funding includes a $750 million Series C round and a $250 million future investment from Uber to deploy robo-taxis on its platform.
Another one.
Robco GmbH raised $100 million in Series C funding to advance its physical AI robotics platform, expand enterprise deployments, and grow in the US market. This brings total funding to $160.5 million. Founded in 2022, the Munich-based company provides modular AI-enabled industrial automation via a robotics-as-a-service model.
US manufacturing returned to expansion in January as the ISM index rose to 52.6, driven by a rebound in new orders. Despite improving demand and backlogs, manufacturers continue to face elevated input costs, labor pressures, and supply chain challenges.
LinkedIn surpassed $5 billion in quarterly revenue for the first time, growing 11%, driven largely by advertising and short-form video. Marketing solutions fueled growth despite a weak job market, while regulatory risks remain from an ongoing GDPR-related appeal in Europe.
New York-based Wellfound has acquired San Francisco-based HireFly, an AI-driven recruiting platform that automates sourcing and application review. The acquisition aims to integrate HireFly's technology and customer base into Wellfound's ecosystem, supporting a unified transition and expanded inbound and outbound recruiting capabilities.
Mountain View, California-based Waymo Alphabet's self-driving car unit raised $16 billion in a funding round, valuing the company at $126 billion. The capital will support U.S. and international expansion, including new city launches, while the company continues focusing on safety amid recent software and traffic incidents.
A December 2025 survey of 1,006 global executives found that AI has prompted some layoffs and slowed hiring, primarily in anticipation of future impact rather than actual performances. Companies often overstate AI's role, while productivity gains remain modest and implementation challenges persist.
San Francisco-based Rippling aired its first Super Bowl ad featuring Tim Robinson, showing an executive hindered by inefficient software. The 32nd spot introduces the "Rule Your Business" campaign, presenting Rippling's enterprise software solutions and expanding the company's marketing focus from performance-driven efforts to broader brand awareness.
London-based Veremark raised $26 million in Series B funding to expand its background screening, credential verification, and workplace integrity platform internationally. This brings total funding to $43.6 million. The investment will support product development, AI integration, and global operations, building on recent growth and the acquisition of agenda screening services.
Private payrolls increased by $22,000 in January, below December's revised $37,000 and the forecasted $45,000. Growth was supported mainly by 74,000 hires in education and health services, reflecting continued weakness in the U.S. labor market and lower-than-expected private sector hiring.
Pecito, a New York-based AI workspace for group health life, raised $21 million in Series A funding led by Insight Partners, with participation from Y Combinator and M-Tech Capital. Funds will support engineering, team growth, AI workflow expansion, and broader sales and marketing efforts.
BoomBand, an AI-native talent platform founded by monster.com creator Jeff Taylor, raised $4 million in a seed round. Launching first in New England, the platform replaces traditional resumes and job boards with dynamic profiles and AI-powered matching to connect job seekers and employers.
Be sure to tune in to 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. Again, that's jobcase.com/hire. Cheeseman out.
Adios, turd nuggets.
Page updated November 11, 2026 · transcript and summary are machine-generated
