Hiii,

I have some ✨ INCREDIBLE NEWS✨

Safe Space is now an app. 📲

You can now scroll the feed, DM your new HR bestie, and get templates, tips and tools alllll in the palm of your hand.

Anytime, anywhere your HR support line is available!!

Download it today on the App Store or Google Play,

See you there?!

Until then, below is your Wednesday check-in. We got news about all the companies who laid off their entire workforce for AI that are now rehiring humans. Yuck.

A pod about being "the only" at work and a stat about leadership that probably won’t surprise you...

🗞️ Here's the Tea:Copy anchor linkCopied

😏 Employers who laid off workers citing AI are already starting to regret it...

The TL;DR: Companies that laid off workers and leaned all-in on AI are now rehiring humans because, shocker, the AI couldn't actually do the job!!!

Ford, CBA, and IBM all got burned in different ways (e.g. bad quality control, overwhelmed customer service bots, unhandled ethical gray areas, etc.) and are now walking it back. Turns out replacing people with AI and growing the business aren't automatically the same strategy!

My POV: For the folks who knew humans couldn’t just be laid off and replaced with AI at scale, this is literally not a surprise at all.

The only difference now is that the receipts are piling up! ☕

55% of leaders who did AI-driven layoffs admit they got the call wrong, and a third of hiring managers straight up rehired for a role they cut. Woof.

So, if you're the one being asked to justify headcount against an AI pitch, add this article to your evidence that the "AI replaces the whole team" plan usually just means someone forgot to budget for the humans who'd have to clean up after it.

🎙️Mic Drop Moment:Copy anchor linkCopied

"Differences should be celebrated at the end of the day."Copy anchor linkCopied

On the mic this week: Amina Gass is a people leader with more than a decade of experience building equitable, high-performing workplaces across HR operations, total rewards, workforce planning, HR systems, and global people strategy. Throughout her career, she's led complex organizational change while championing inclusion and transparency.

Pin this:

• Being "the only" at work comes with invisible emotional labor that orgs need to acknowledge.
• Representation isn't enough if people don't have the support or psychological safety to influence decisions.
• Mentorship and allyship are some of the strongest retention and equity tools leaders have.
• Building inclusive workplaces starts with small, intentional actions, not perfect DEI strategies or performative statements.

My H*ly Sh*t Moment: Inclusion is all about creating the conditions where people feel safe enough to use their voices once they're at work!

▶️ Press Play

📊 Data Is My Love Language:Copy anchor linkCopied

Stat: When a workplace is toxic, 79% of U.S. employees blame bad leadership

My spiral: Even though a lot of HR folks see this stat play out in real time, it’s still pretty interesting to see it immortalized in data.

When leadership is unethical and unaccountable, NO amount of perks will keep employees from being affected by it!

What makes this even wilder is that this number barely moved year-over-year, which means orgs aren't actually solving it…they're just watching it happen again.

The real audit needs to start in the C-suite!! I SAID WHAT I SAID. :)

🛠️ In Your Toolkit Copy anchor linkCopied

Right now, we all need a straight answer to this question:

Which roles does AI change, and what does getting it wrong cost us?

Most people are guessing, so this month’s HR Therapy will help you build that system! 😁

Aon's Amanda Arena and Will Self are joining to break down what data-driven workforce planning looks like, from job architecture to the transparency conversations everyone avoids.

You’ll leave with a plan you’ll be able to implement right away!

🗣️ UNMUTE YOURSELF

It’s way easier to measure the chaos than it is to notice the wins, which is basically the nature of this job.

So it’s probably worth taking a second to recognize a win, since they do happen!

“When did you last feel like HR was actually winning?”

🛠️ TRY THIS TOMORROW:

Raise your hand if you find yourself over-editing every single message before hitting send!

Sometimes we model professionalism so hard that we forget to model humanness, which includes typos and casual language on occasion! So here's your one thing to try:

“Leave one Slack message or email unpolished and remind yourself that perfection isn't required.”

👂 OVERHEARD IN SAFE SPACE

Nothing says visionary leader like taking credit for the plan and blaming luck for the results!

Read what members had to say here.

DON'T FORGET!! Your newest fave app is waiting... download the Safe Space app now on the App Store or Google Play!!!