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AI is reshaping both sides of the hiring equation, with job applicants turning to it to research employers, Avature convening its US conference around people-and-AI-agent collaboration, and a growing debate over who sets the rules when machine applicants enter the pipeline. Tech layoffs surpassing 200,000 jobs this year underscore the workforce disruption accompanying the AI investment surge, while ZipRecruiter's revenue growth and Mount Thor's $45M Series A signal continued investor appetite in HR tech. On the compliance front, Delta Air Lines, Wabash National, and Osmose Utilities each settled EEOC discrimination suits, keeping workplace accountability squarely in focus alongside the industry's technology transformation.
candidate experienceHR Dive· 12:35 PM PST
Built In's survey of 119 job seekers, released Nov. 13, 2026, found 88% had used AI to find or research potential employers in the past year. Sixty-six percent of AI users said they applied to a company they had not considered before, while more than half said they declined to apply after consulting AI. The company says 23% of applicants stopped responding or continuing interviews because of AI-supplied information, and 68% said they often verify AI-generated employer information.
complianceHR Dive· 12:34 PM PST
The IRS raised the 2027 annual contribution limit for 401(k) plans to $25,500, up $1,000 from 2026, and the same limit applies to 403(b), governmental 457 and Thrift Savings Plans. The catch-up limit rises to $8,500, while the IRA limit stays at $7,500. The announcement comes as the Department of Labor's final rule allowing alternative assets such as private equity and crypto in defined-contribution plans sits under White House review.
HiBobHR Dive· 12:34 PM PST
A HiBob survey found that more than half of HR managers who use AI to review workforce decisions reconsidered overlooked workers for promotion, and 73% used the tool's output to challenge a manager's decision, including ones possibly shaped by bias. Forty-three percent said AI review led to a more favorable pay-raise outcome for the employee, and 40% said the same for promotions. The findings are based on HiBob's own survey results.
HR technologyAvature· 9:01 AM PST
Avature's founder and CEO Dimitri Boylan told the Avature Upfront US 2026 event in Scottsdale, Arizona, that HR should move to a hybrid model where people provide judgment, agents handle repeatable tasks, and systems manage data and controls. The event drew more than 250 HR leaders. Avature also previewed Avature 11, which it describes as its most powerful release, with AI-assisted and conversational configuration that it says can cut implementation time from years to months.
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executive compensationPR Newswire· 8:40 AM PST
The CHRO Association said Ani Huang, its President, Policy and Practice, was elected a Fellow of the National Academy of Human Resources (NAHR) and inducted with the 2026 class in New York on November 12, 2026. The release says Fellows are peer-elected, and that 210 people have been named Fellows since 1992. Huang leads the Association's member offerings and previously led the Center on Executive Compensation.
AI agentsAptitude Research· 8:18 AM PST
Visier has expanded its Workforce Context Engine, which it positions as the AI foundation for enterprise HR. The engine maps workforce data across connected systems, models it with relationships, and governs it with permissions and freshness rules, working on top of existing HR systems. Visier also sends governed context back into Databricks, Snowflake and Google Cloud Platform. Eaton is cited as an early customer, reporting a 90% cut in manual reports and an 83% drop in bug tickets.
workforce strategyBeinsure· 7:24 AM PST
Technology companies have cut more than 200,000 jobs worldwide in 2026, according to the TrueUp layoffs tracker, as firms restructure and redirect spending toward AI. Oracle reported the largest disclosed reduction, about 21,000 jobs or 13% of its workforce, and its annual filing says AI adoption has contributed to workforce reductions. Canva, Uber, Squarespace, Block and Netflix also announced cuts.
ZipRecruiterHR Tech Feed· 6:25 AM PST
ZipRecruiter reported third-quarter 2026 revenue of $124.4 million, up 8% from about $115.0 million a year earlier, according to HR Tech Feed. The company returned to profit with net income of $5.1 million, compared with a net loss of $9.8 million in Q3 2025, and beat its own projections on revenue and profitability. The results came despite a sluggish broader hiring market, a backdrop that matters for recruiting-platform buyers and vendors.
Microsoft 365Newsweek· 4:08 AM PST
Microsoft's Microsoft 365 services, including Outlook, Teams, Exchange Online and Copilot, suffered a global outage that Downdetector logged as more than 140,000 user reports across 74 countries. Microsoft says it was not a cyberattack and points to failing automated server health checks and high processor usage. The disruption came less than three weeks after the company offered voluntary exit packages to about 60,000 eligible employees, roughly 27 percent of its 223,000-strong workforce, in divisions including Copilot, HR and AI experiences.
EEOCEEOC· 4:00 AM PST
Delta Air Lines has agreed to pay monetary relief and provide other relief to settle a federal pregnancy discrimination lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, according to the EEOC. The announcement was made from New York. The source does not state the settlement amount or the specific practices involved.
EEOCEEOC· 4:00 AM PST
Wabash National Corp., a semi-trailer maker headquartered in Lafayette, Indiana, will pay $50,000 and provide other relief to settle a pregnancy discrimination lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The company operates nine major facilities across seven states. The settlement is an employer-compliance enforcement outcome relevant to HR leaders tracking pregnancy discrimination cases.
EEOCEEOC· 4:00 AM PST
Atlanta-based Osmose Utilities Services, Inc. will pay $25,000 and provide other equitable relief to settle a disability discrimination lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, according to the EEOC.
AI agentsJob Board Doctor· 3:27 AM PST
Recruitics joined the Linux Foundation's Agentic AI Foundation as a Silver member on November 3, and CTO Austin Anderson was named to lead a new Jobs and Hiring special interest group. The company's draft Open Job Context Protocol (OJCP) would let job boards publish a file describing up to six agent tools, from job search to application submission, with signed agent requests, fit scores and third-party identity checks. The column notes the steering committee includes Workday, and that three of its eight members are auto-apply tools.
💰 $45MAI agentsThe SaaS News· 11:29 PM PST
San Francisco startup Mount Thor has raised $45 million across a combined seed and Series A round. The company offers on-demand remote access to Apple silicon hardware for AI agent training, software testing and model inference. CRV and Conviction co-led the Series A, and the company plans to expand data center capacity and hiring.
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