Upwork’s €20M Bupty Bet, Denmark’s Deepfake Crackdown, and Europe’s 4-Day Work Week

In this episode of The Chad & Cheese Podcast, with Chad Sowash sipping ouzo on a Greek beach, Joel Cheesman and guest J.T. O’Donnell dish out spicy takes on the workforce with their trademark snark. They kick off with a riff on empathy—or lack thereof—in today’s rage-fueled world, joking that community resilience is basically folks bonding over Wi-Fi outages. Corporate layoffs get a roasting, with job security shakier than a Jenga tower at a frat party, and fractional employment pitched as the future for those who love working three jobs to afford one coffee. OpenAI’s shiny new job platform sparks eye-rolls, as they dunk on job boards so outdated they might as well be faxing resumes. AI’s role in job matching gets a nod, though they quip it’s less “perfect match” and more “swipe left on bad fits.” Labor market woes are dissected, with job seekers facing hurdles higher than a toddler’s tantrum, and generational gripes about work sound like Boomers and Zoomers arguing over who gets the last slice of avocado toast. Economic data? They trust it about as much as a used car salesman’s handshake. Indeed and LinkedIn’s AI tools get a playful cage match comparison, while Shaker and Radancy’s acquisition drama is served with a side of corporate soap opera. They wrap up cackling about autonomous vehicles, wondering if truck drivers will soon be replaced by robots who honk worse than your uncle at a tailgate.  Chapters 00:00 Introduction and Current Events 02:25 The State of Empathy and Rage 05:19 Shout Outs and Community Resilience 08:33 Corporate Layoffs and Job Security 11:22 The Future of Work and Fractional Employment 14:22 OpenAI's New Job Platform 17:06 Cynicism Towards Job Boards 20:11 OpenAI's Impact on Job Searching 27:16 AI in Job Matching and Job Seeker Education 29:06 Labor Market Insights and Economic Realities 30:50 Demographics of Job Seekers and Their Challenges 33:04 Generational Perspectives on Employment 35:19 Trust in Economic Data and Its Implications 36:29 AI Tools in Recruitment: Indeed vs. LinkedIn 46:52 Acquisitions in Recruitment Tech: Shaker vs. Radancy 53:57 The Future of Autonomous Vehicles and Job Displacement

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.

Tim Sackett is back, and he’s not here to sugarcoat your broken recruiting process. From running a family staffing biz (yes, his mom started it—nepotism FTW) to launching the HR Tech 100 Fund, Sackett’s got opinions, and Chad & Cheese are here to poke the bear. Inside this episode: Why most HR tech still runs on vaporware and broken promises The Sackett philosophy: If you suck at recruiting, AI just helps you suck faster “Scale Your Suck” – his accidental book title that SHRM will never publish Why recruiters might have 18 months before AI eats their lunch (and their jobs) How execs keep saying “do more strategic work” when nobody knows WTF that actually means The coming extinction-level event for recruiters who think “tallest dwarf” = top talent This isn’t a kumbaya “AI will save us all” chat. It’s Sackett unplugged—equal parts brutal honesty, dad jokes, and career counseling for recruiters about to be replaced by bots that actually give candidates feedback. Grab a stiff drink. Season 3 is here, and it’s coming for your job description.

From Google’s “flock of dead canaries” warning shot to Meta’s latest identity crisis, this episode is jam-packed with chaos. Recruitix buys a mystery box, Nestlé boots its CEO over an office fling, and Taco Bell AI goes full waterpark mode. Oh, and Chipotle drones are now dropping burritos from the sky. You can’t make this stuff up—so we didn’t. Chapters 00:00 Introduction and Overview of the Episode 03:52 Corporate Drama: CEO Dismissals and Scandals 06:10 A Tribute to Greg Louganis: Olympic Legacy and Challenges 08:53 The Fading Glory of Olympians 09:32 International Students and the Impact of Policy Changes 13:15 Upcoming Events and Networking Opportunities 15:34 Fantasy Football Draft Recap 19:14 Closing Thoughts and Future Topics 19:58 Google's Search Monopoly and Market Dynamics 22:42 The Impact of Workforce Imbalance 26:04 The Future of Google Search and Diversification 28:50 Recruitics Acquires Change State: A Strategic Move? 34:31 Meta's Leadership Shakeup and AI Focus 48:22 AI in Fast Food: Taco Bell's Experimentation

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.

What happens when you mix SmartRecruiters, a global AI pivot, and a comms pro who loves to “shake shit up”? You get Allyn Bailey dropping truth bombs on everything from why legacy ATS platforms should be left in a museum next to floppy disks, to how scheduling interviews is apparently the Mount Everest of HR tech problems. Joel and Chad dig into: Why “feature bloat” is killing platforms faster than a buffet kills willpower The rise of AI agents that make every TA leader feel “special” (just like their mom told them) How SmartRecruiters is “releasing the Kraken” on AI adoption—while trying not to terrify every compliance officer on Earth Why Kenya and Eastern Europe are quietly kicking everyone else’s ass on AI innovation And yes… the most celebrated use case for AI in recruiting is still… scheduling. It’s part therapy session, part roast, part masterclass in how to burn down old TA processes without getting fired. Strap in. Season 3 of The AI Sessions is here.

Strap on your helmets and tighten those chinstraps, Chad Sowash and Joel Cheesman are celebrating their 1,500th episode with more swagger than a Cracker Barrel parking lot brawl. Expect: -Trump cosplaying as a mob boss at Intel and Cracker Barrel-Kelce + Swift rumors getting the “wink-wink” treatment-Fantasy football team names that would make your grandma blush-Workday dragging Paradox into the modern era-Employ Inc.’s CEO carousel—because why settle for one clown when you can have the whole circus?-Dayforce’s $12.3B private equity soap opera-Meta’s AI drama (aka “Zuck being Zuck”) It’s business, it’s football, it’s chaos—and it’s all drenched in the unfiltered sarcasm you love. 1500 episodes later, the boys are still slinging takes hotter than a Browns fan’s rage. Chapters: 00:00Celebrating 1500 Episodes 01:24Reflections on Current Events 05:53The Future of Restaurants 06:31AI in Business: The Human Factor 09:38Travis Kelsey and Celebrity Culture 11:14Fantasy Football Team Names 18:08Workday Acquires Paradox: A Game Changer 22:18The Rise and Fall of Jobbing 26:05Workday's Strategic Moves in AI 30:18The Future of Recruitment Tech 32:41Leadership Changes in Employee Tech 40:24Dayforce's Private Equity Acquisition 45:25Meta's AI Controversies and Hiring Pause Grab your popcorn and a sense of humor—this episode’s a wild ride! Subscribe and checkout the eye candy at YouTube.com/@chadcheese and visit www.chadcheese.com today.

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.

Marriott’s Tyler Weeks joins Chad & Cheese to unpack what it’s like running HR for a million humans (and possibly a few Roombas). Expect: Ritz-Carlton ghosting Joel harder than his prom date. Why Marriott’s HR is basically 9,000 mom-and-pop shops in a trench coat. The shocking discovery that AI doesn’t make great recruiters greater—it just stops the bad ones from lighting themselves on fire. CFO ROI math so sketchy it belongs in a late-night infomercial. And the big AI fix for fake résumés and deepfakes? Drag ‘em into the lobby for an old-fashioned, in-person interview. This is hospitality meets HR Tech chaos—and Tyler’s got the room service order. 🍸 Listen :)

Forget the Eiffel Tower, kids—we’re climbing the recruitment rollercoaster instead. Upwork’s shopping spree in Holland (Bupty? Buptie? Bupkis?), Denmark’s going full Face/Off to keep Nic Cage off Viggo’s jawline, and the UK is suddenly allergic to Fridays. Joel’s out dropping Cole at college, so Chad is joined by Belgium’s royal pain Lieven and Scotland’s deep-fried-pizza poet Stephen McGrath. Loud Americans, entitled tourists, and the four-day work week—this one’s got more punch than a Glasgow nightclub at 2 a.m. 👉 Press play. Europe’s never been so dangerously entertaining. Chapters 00:00 Introduction and Welcome 04:15 Shout Outs and Celebrations 11:11 Upwork's Strategic Acquisitions 22:52 The Future of Staffing and Technology 38:29 Denmark's Deepfake Legislation 44:24 The Four-Day Work Week Discussion