Episode 576 - Your Weekly TA & Recruitment News with the Scoop

Speaker A: Welcome to the Scoop, brought to you by. Indeed. The talent acquisition and recruitment news cycle moves pretty quickly, but, uh, we've got you covered with all the trends, developing stories, and breaking news. And now here are your anchors, Lauren Sharp, um, and Craig Watson.

Speaker B: Hi, everyone, and welcome to the Scoop. I'm Craig.

Speaker C: And I am Lauren.

Speaker B: Big week. Big week. It's a countdown week for you.

Speaker C: I know. This time next week, I will be on a bird on the way to the UK for. For breakfast. 26.

Speaker B: Speaking of being on a bird.

Speaker C: Oh, Jesus.

Speaker B: So you went to. Where'd you go? Wagga.

Speaker C: Wagga.

Speaker B: Why don't you tell listeners a little bit about your journey? It was a. It was a fun time.

Speaker C: Oh, my goodness.

Speaker A: I.

Speaker C: It's too flights to get to Wagga. Anyway, look, to cut a long story short, uh, a rather a father looking after his daughter, watching way too much sport and not paying attention to his child, I ended up wearing a rather large cup of apple juice all down the.

Speaker B: And you were sticky.

Speaker C: Oh, yeah, yeah. It was a saga, believe me. So, anyone at the Melbourne talent meetup, I will relay in detail the saga of the apple juice if you wish to hear it, because it was a saga.

Speaker B: Yeah, yeah.

Speaker C: But some good news, though. I heard, um, that rippling are hiring 150 people in Ireland.

Speaker B: To do what?

Speaker C: Well, it's an array of jobs, actually. Uh, it's for their new office in Ireland. They announced it, uh, 27th of May that they are, uh, hiring, um, to promote investment across the country. So that's a bit of a good news story for once. And all the shit that's going on in the world right now.

Speaker B: It is, it is.

Speaker C: I know. Um, I'm quite happy with that, Mike. Yay. A little bit of glimmer of hope.

Speaker B: Well, let me just bring you back down to earth with my first one.

Speaker C: Okay, go on.

Speaker B: From HR Executive.

Speaker C: Kill my happiness here, Craig. Please do.

Speaker B: Why Uber is cutting nearly one quarter of its HR team. Okay, so Uber has just taken the ax to nearly a quarter of its people and places team. That's HR recruitment, culture, facilities, facilities, the lot. And it's the second time in four years they've gone after the people team. Now, remember last week when every company on Earth was blaming AI for the sackings?

Speaker C: Yeah.

Speaker B: Uber has flipped the script completely.

Speaker C: Oh, what are they blaming?

Speaker B: They've come out and sworn, hand on heart that AI had absolutely nothing to do with it. This is while 95 of their engineers who are using AI coding tools, uh, every single month, meeting or exceeding their token Thresholds. So the memos are pisser two. They're chasing a more connected, modern, operationally excellent organization. And that's just a fancy way of saying we couldn't work out who's been doing what in here, so we're getting rid of a whole lot of you.

Speaker C: So basically they're, they're just this sounds like they're just overhiered.

Speaker B: Yeah, well, the real kicker is the. The very people they're getting rid of are the people whose job it is to handle redundancies with a bit of grace and straight face. So Uber's essentially asked the cleanup crew to clean up themselves. Uh, and a side note, bookings are, uh, up 25% globally on Uber at the moment. Okay.

Speaker C: So they're making them lots of money. M. So, yeah, I'm going to bring on some more bad news.

Speaker B: Oh, shies. And how.

Speaker C: Oh, Jesus. Uh, we're going to learn how to swear in many, many languages. I would say by, uh, the time we retire. Craig. Doing this. So, Scheisserhausen. Australia faces a 12.5% US tariff over forced labor coming out to HRD. Now, uh, the Trump administration is proposing a 12 and a half percent tariff on Australian import as part of a sweeping section.

Speaker B: Before you go any further, just, just remember that you may be transiting through the US later in the year. So be nice.

Speaker C: Shut up, Craig. As part of a sweeping Section 301 investigation into forced labor, naming Australia amongst among 60 economies it found to have failed to adequately prohibit goods made through modern slavery from entering their markets. On a side note, the irony is not lost considering that America doesn't even pay a living wage now. Announcements made by the trade people over there. Okay, um, and my God, the world is up in arms about this one because it can do supply chain ethics squarely on the agenda for Australian professionals. This is done. So basically what it means, like, you know how you tick the box? Are you. Do you not use slavery or by things made in company countries that have slavery, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. So they're turning around saying that we don't, um, follow the adequate slavery controls and unfair trade practices here in Australia, which I believe is a bit of.

Speaker B: Well, we wouldn't be able to buy our Nikes if we, if we did everything right.

Speaker C: Yeah, you try and tell America that. Where do you think their Nikes are coming from?

Speaker B: Exactly.

Speaker C: So what does it mean beyond the trade when it comes to hiring, etc. So what it is doing is popping the, um. Putting us in an uncomfortable conversation about how seriously Australian businesses are Taking modern slavery, um, obligations. So modelling from a supply chain risk platform has, uh, estimated that more than 21% of goods imported into Australia in the last financial year, roughly $1 in every five spent on import, are linked to supply chains where coercion, uh, debt, bondage or other forms of slavery are known to occur. So look, this is a bit of a risk, but there is another backside to this. When I did some investigating, it has been ruled in America that the delightful presidential whatever he signs at his desk with his Sharpie marker, um, is illegal and all the tariffs that he's put out there have been illegal and the American government have been ordered to pay back the tariffs to the importers. So this is their new way of trying to find and get money out of other countries.

Speaker B: Interesting. I would find it very hard to believe that any country would be less than Australia in, in those terms if, you know, like importing. Because we've got trade agreements with China and I'm tipping that a lot of China is. The conditions over there may be less than, than hitting the benchmark for this. Maybe Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand. We import a lot and most. But most countries do, don't they? Yeah, that's what I do understand. We're not like on our own. We're not like I thought anyway.

Speaker C: I don't know. It's a reason for Donald to get more money because all the, that Donald's done in the last year, 18 months, it's all being challenged in courts over there. So that, um, and all this stuff. So he's now having to pay back some of this stuff and he's not a happy camper because people are calling that.

Speaker B: Yeah, I'm tipping this probably will get thrown out too. M. There's something else will come to just keep coming until the end of that president.

Speaker C: Until he dies.

Speaker B: I don't know about that, uh, until the end of the presidency. My next one's from Indeed. There's a growing contradiction in Australia's labor market. Skill shortages remain widespread, yet apprenticeship opportunities are moving in the opposite direction. So according to Indeed data, job postings for apprentices and trainees fell 23% in 2025 and are tracking lower again early this year. At the same time, 20% of Australian occupations have faced persistent shortages over the past four years, rising to 37% for technicians and trade workers, which is weird. So the ads are down 25%, but the need is up more than 37%.

Speaker C: And what is it, 620,000 skilled migrants in this country who can do what they're qualified to do because the trade organisations for them will not allow it to happen.

Speaker B: Yeah. So Callum Pickering reckons that Australia's apprenticeship system is facing a massive talent pipeline problem. Despite ongoing demand for skilled workers, the vocational education system is producing fewer completions while employers are increasingly looking overseas to fill critical roles where they can. So, yeah, so course completions are down 64% from their 2012, 2013 peak. And now temporary skilled visas granted for apprenticeship occupations are five times higher than they were just three years ago. So, yes, we are bringing in more people to look at that, but still not enough. So it also says that jobseeker activity remains very low in apprentice areas. In fact, just 1.1% of all searches on indeed were for apprenticeship roles in 2025, suggesting aspiring apprentices are still finding work really easily. Wow.

Speaker C: Maybe we should get into an apprenticeship in building.

Speaker B: Craig, if there's a grant for it, I'm up for it.

Speaker C: Well, we are, um, people of a certain age, so I'm sure that they will give us a retraining skills.

Speaker B: Oh, you mean so we go and do an apprentice? I thought you meant open, like a, uh, RTO or something.

Speaker C: No, no, no. How about you and I become builders?

Speaker B: Well, I've done worse jobs.

Speaker C: That's a good point. My next one's coming out of hrd. Now, this article is interesting. Atlassian's VP of HR on why AI is making teams slower, not faster. And I thought, interesting headline. Craig will want to yell at me on this one, but it actually makes sense now. The State of Teams 26 report released by Atlassian's Teamwork Lab and based on surveys of 12,035 knowledge workers, 172 40s fortune, UM companies, 1,000 executives across the US, UK, Australia, India, Germany and France found, UM, that while 89% of executives say AI has increased the speed of work, only 6% can point to specific return on investment across their organization.

Speaker B: Suck rub there.

Speaker C: You are so bilingual today. The gap between those two figures is what Atlassian is calling the fragmentation tax. Now, the report estimates that fragmentation tax cost the Fortune 500 an estimated 161 billion a year, driven by duplicative work, misaligned priorities and coordination failures that erode productivity gains. Now, knowledge workers are spending 80% of their time on collaborative tasks, yet just 24% of AI implementations are focused at a team level. So, in summary, what it's looking at is that it is improving the efficiency of an individual team member by up to 80 something percent, which is great. So an individual person, but we're losing the collaboration. The team is not improving, um, by that amount, by anywhere near it.

Speaker B: That's interesting, isn't it? Yeah, it does sort of make sense though, doesn't it?

Speaker C: So it's pointing to AI as an individual output. Okay. Is doing really, really well. But as a redesigning of how teams are actually working and working together and increasing their output as a team, it pretty much going untouched when you're looking at 6%.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: Uh, yeah. So I wonder how they fix that.

Speaker C: I don't know. I think that's definitely, um, I think that's one to see what happens in this space because we are talking about a lot of the ROI on, on AI at the moment when, like, we've debated. The candidates are using it, we're using it. So basically we're canceling each other out. Uh, we're talking about token usage now. All of these things that are coming into it. Like Was it uber 8 through their whole year of token usage, three months? Um, and like, we're talking about companies whose whole budget. And so the finance guys are now stepping into the guys who are putting in all this AI and say, well, okay, we've got AI coming in. We're not seeing it. The cut costs, it's actually costing us more. Are, uh, we better off to have a headcount?

Speaker B: Exactly. Interesting times. Now that, now that there's something that ROI is really going to be measured on in terms of cost versus outputs, we might, we'll, we'll watch this space very closely and see it is an

Speaker C: interesting conversation, isn't it? Like this new beauty thing. And then we're looking at SpaceX and anthropic and are just to begin to announce their IPO. Uh, and these companies, some of them, SpaceX is going for 100 multiplier. Uh, companies used to go for a 10 to 15 multiplier when going to IPO and they're going for 100 multiplier on a trillion dollar company that has run at a.

Speaker B: In musk we trust.

Speaker C: Oh, no, you've got to be kidding me. Uh, that's running at a loss. So how can this company be worth so much money if it's never made any money?

Speaker B: Yeah, that's, it's, it beggars belief.

Speaker C: Uh, maybe this is, it's beyond my thought train. Maybe Callum needs to step in and explain this to me with the whiteboard.

Speaker B: Yeah, I don't think they've been like awarded government contracts or anything.

Speaker C: Yes, they have.

Speaker B: They have.

Speaker C: That's the only way that props up Tesla and, and SpaceX. It's all run on government money.

Speaker B: Well, maybe that's what they're going to market with their iPad.

Speaker C: If you took away a lot of the government grants that Elon Musk has been done, Tesla wouldn't. He wouldn't have done anywhere near as what he's done.

Speaker B: Are they?

Speaker C: No.

Speaker B: All the, all the government fleets are Tesla's. Are they?

Speaker C: Well, also in America, there aren't no Chinese cars.

Speaker B: Aren't, um, there.

Speaker C: No, none at all. All Chinese cars have been banned for import. That's why Tesla's biggest marker is the us.

Speaker B: Interesting.

Speaker C: Because they won't allow competition in. So.

Speaker B: Interesting.

Speaker C: It's a bit of a false market if you ask me.

Speaker B: My next one. The traditional 9 to 5 and daily commute will be dead by 2050, most workers believe so. Nearly 70% of workers reckon the 9 to 5 in the daily commute will be dead by 2050. For everyday Australians battling a cost of living crisis, the biggest victory of this revolution is keeping cash in their pockets. With a massive 81% of workers saying dodging the daily commute has boosted their financial well being. But here's the bit buried under the headline, Lauren, the landmark report comes from iwg. And what does IWG do for a crust? Well, they flog flexible office spaces near where people live. So the crew that rents out the local workspaces has heroically discovered that 93% of you desperately want a local workspace. What are the odds? That's not research, it's a bloody sales brochure.

Speaker C: Absolutely.

Speaker B: And the future, they're sprucking. Well, this is what they're saying in their report. Looking ahead to 2050, workers will expect sci fi technologies like neural implants and immersive virtual workplaces to become standard as everyday office tools. So apparently the 9 to 5 isn't dead, it's just being eulogized by people who profit most from the funeral.

Speaker C: I reckon they just need to calm their jets on this one because, honestly,

Speaker B: I reckon someone recorded a conversation when a few people were pissed at a pub.

Speaker C: That's what it sounds like, doesn't it?

Speaker B: Yeah, this is, this is.

Speaker C: Or they're just playing something from We Work.

Speaker B: Yeah, exactly. It's crazy.

Speaker C: Oh my God. I just. I didn't need to cool their jets like 18 months ago. We're talking about the death of the white collar rolls and blah, blah, blah. AI is taking over the world now we're seeing the cracks. It's, it's. Yeah. There's so much crap out There right now.

Speaker B: Any. Anyone can get an opinion these days.

Speaker C: Oh, Jesus.

Speaker B: It doesn't even say in the article I read. It didn't even say how many people were surveyed.

Speaker C: Didn't it? No, it's a ad. What a freaking package.

Speaker B: And I've just given them some free publicity.

Speaker C: Tool bags. Tool bags. All right, mine. CEO to staff. Now this one came out of Business Insider. Uh, you're not getting a pay rise. We're spending it on AI. So Terra Data, a global cloud software company, told its 5,100 employees in January not to expect an annual pay rise this year as it reallocates the budget towards AI investments, according to an internal memo that went out and we'll see. Seen by Business Insider. So teradata's focus for 2026. And this is a quote from their CEO Steve McMillan. Win in the market with AI and to help achieve that, the company is not increasing anyone's salary. I'm investing it all in AI. We will fund this investment by reallocating the budget from salaries in 26. Oh, I've gone down a bloody treat. Isn't it that when you're referring to people as um, what was it? Human capital. Not human capital. Um. Oh. Anyway, some CEO referred to as basically as a line item. But this is not the only company. Then a company, a mid sized tech company called TTEC in the US has paused its 401k matches for its U. S employees through to the end of this year, saying in internal communication that benefits, the benefits will go to funding more AI in the company's future. So it's. And then you got meta on top of that, who've decided, oh, we won't crack track your keystrokes and everything by AI to train our machines because there was such an uproar. So it's. People are pushing back. People are really pushing back on this Interesting time. Very well. Yeah, the writings on the wall. If you're going to fully automate your company and you're getting rid of all the people because you're going to make more money with AI. More, more people are going to be out of work. So they're not spending money. Uh, you're not paying. People won't be paying taxes. So they're going to be taxing companies more because the government's now got to pay for all these people who are unemployed. Well, they are. And the billionaires are sitting there getting richer, uh, and complete pricks. I was going to say another word there, but I definitely don't think I could say that word.

Speaker B: It's a Wednesday, don't drop.

Speaker C: No, there was a Tuesday involved in that word.

Speaker B: My last one today is from the Herald sun, the top 10 most in demand jobs. So the list of Australia's 10 most in demand jobs has just dropped. And right at the top, glowing like a shiny eider's trophy, Lauren sits the AI engineer on 160k salary. Job ads are up 295% for them. So cue. Now every career coach in the country is telling your kid, go and master Claude code if you want a future. But let's be serious. 295% of what percentage growth tells you nothing without a starting number. M. So going from 10 ads to 40, that's just, that's a 300% surge as well and only an extra 30 ads. So it's the oldest trick in the data draw and it's making a niche role look like a tidal wave.

Speaker C: Yeah, exactly.

Speaker B: Now read the actual list. Underneath the AI poster boy you've got retail specialists, bus drivers, both honest and vital work for our economy. So I'm going to quickly go through the top 10. Artificial Intelligence Engineer, retail um, specialist, locomotive driver, bus driver, commissioning technician, finance coordinator, solutions engine engineer, estimating supervisor, area manager in community services and finance lead. And interestingly they also released the most in demand skills. And here's the part they tuck away at the bottom. 14 of the top 20 skills employers want are soft skills, communication, teamwork, flexibility, turning up and giving a damn. In the so called age of AI, the hottest commodity on the market is a human being who can hold a conversation tall.

Speaker A: Ya.

Speaker B: Told ya.

Speaker A: I know.

Speaker C: It's like I'm a oracle.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker C: I should be bronzed and worshipped as a pagan idol.

Speaker B: I think you are in some islands in the South Pacific.

Speaker C: Does not surprise me. Craigo does not surprise me what so bloody ever. All right, you're going to move on to events.

Speaker B: Sure.

Speaker C: I'm the meetup lady again today. I know I'm a bit like the lunch lady with meetups and. Yes and without for dubitas, those in the. No, no. Okay, let's start with Auckland meetup on 18 June at Island Recruitment Level 17 PwC, towering Commercial Bay sponsored by Checkmate. Now the topic is trust and authenticity in recruitment. That's something we need a lot more of, I do believe because it's a fucking shit fight out there. Now. Melbourne talent meetup, their 10th anniversary wow. Delicatessen hosting trivia this Thursday the 11th, that's tomorrow at the Carlton Club on Burke Street. Now it's Open to anyone in ta nature in our community. Come along. 5:30. Kickoff quiz starts at 6:30. Uh, prizes, etc, etc. And you and I will be there. Yes.

Speaker B: It's the first time I've been for a while, so.

Speaker C: Yeah, you. You've got to go.

Speaker B: I'm coming. I can't wait.

Speaker C: I'll be there, but I think I might be a little late. But I'll get there. Yeah, yeah, absolutely right.

Speaker B: Video My. The talent Strategy Master class with the one and only James Ell. Tickets are selling very, very quickly for that one. It's on the 2nd of September, the day before the Iters. If you're in Melbourne for the Iters, this is a event you can't miss out on. So jump into the video My website. The tickets are on human tics as well. And finally yesterday.

Speaker C: Oh, drum roll please. Craig, I think this is a drum roll that we announced. Go on, bring it away.

Speaker B: We announced an extension to the nominations for the Idlers. Uh, a shitload of nominations sitting in the system that haven't quite finished yet. So they're sitting there in park completion. So you have got an extra week to get them done. And also anybody who hasn't started yet, jump in there. We, uh, know it's hard to find time to do these sort of things, but do yourselves a favor.

Speaker C: I know. I cannot believe it is coming around that quickly. So you got to the 21st of this month now, uh, so you've got an extra week, peeps. Get your nominations in, get your tickets while you're waiting.

Speaker B: Waiting for your submission to process. Buy your tickets.

Speaker C: Absolutely.

Speaker B: Now, are we announcing who the guest scoop co presenter with me is going to be for the next two weeks or should we leave it a surprise?

Speaker C: I think we should because I'm away. This is my last scoop for a few weeks and as I'm heading off to Wreckfest, um, and a little bit of a jaunt around, uh, and seeing a few things. But we have a guest.

Speaker B: Yes, the wonderful Kimberly Laurie is going to join me in the studio for the next two weeks to deliver all the new news that matters. And then I think the following skip we're doing live from Breakfast uk.

Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, we are.

Speaker B: So it's all happening and it is

Speaker C: how Tar Pod will travel.

Speaker B: Yes, exactly. Right, so have an amazing, uh, flight next week, Lauren and I'll catch up to you in a couple of weeks. And until next week, everyone, it's a

Speaker C: goodbye from me and a goodbye from me.