There may be nothing souring faster than job seekers’ feelings about the hiring process right now—except for maybe that carton of eggnog that you bought and neglected to drink over the holidays.

Candidates and recruiters seemingly haven’t always had the best relationship, but what was previously a mostly-neutral, transactional interaction has become an emotional one, rife with finger pointing: Job seekers say they’re getting ghosted by recruiters or rejected by AI within moments of applying. Hiring teams say they can’t handle the growing pile of résumés on their desks, made worse by the growing arsenal of AI tools that candidates are using to speed up the application process.

Someone has to be the bigger person and, as such, some organizations are extending an olive branch by trying to improve the candidate experience. Aspen Dental, a dental chain with more than 1,100 offices across the US, is one such organization.

The company receives “thousands of résumés” in any given month, Reece White, senior recruitment marketing manager at Aspen Dental, told HR Brew. Using Phenom, an AI-powered HR platform, Aspen Dental has tried to improve its candidate experience, including communication and feedback channels.

Keep reading here.—PM

There was no shortage of debate over DE&I in 2024. Some companies reaffirmed their commitment to initiatives, while others appeased conservative activists, and DE&I leaders faced an uncertain job market.

The health of DE&I initiatives in 2025 remains uncertain, especially as politicians turn up the rhetoric, but a new study indicates that while companies anticipate change ahead, most are committed to DE&I.

Some 43% of leaders said that anti-DE&I rhetoric impacted their diversity efforts in 2024, and 42% will make “substantive” changes to their initiatives in 2025, according to the State of Culture and Inclusion report from Paradigm, a DE&I consultancy. The organization surveyed 150 business leaders, analyzed data from 220 clients, and compared 143 organizations’ initiatives year over year.

Despite the negative discourse, 73% of companies have made a commitment to DE&I as part of their values, and 60% have a DE&I strategy, a 9% increase from 2023.

Keep reading here.—KP

Adam Grant, the popular Wharton organizational psychologist and professor and prolific LinkedIn poster, is headed to Glassdoor, the online hub for juicy employer info and reviews, according to company officials.

This week the company announced it had tapped Grant as its first chief worklife expert.

At Glassdoor, Grant expects to leverage the company’s workplace data, including its popular company reviews and salary info and workplace insights, to address “issues like burnout, career growth, and workplace well-being” and write content for Glassdoor and lead interactive discussions in its community. Grant already hosts popular workplace podcasts Re:Thinking and WorkLife and delivers a free monthly newsletter, Granted.

The news of Grant’s partnership with Glassdoor follows last year’s efforts to build a roster of content experts as “Worklife Pros” who post and comment in a number of the platform’s “community bowls.”

Keep reading here.—AD

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