Author: Gabriela Quintela

A scene from the latest season of HBO drama “Euphoria” has taken the internet by storm: Maddy Perez (played by Alexa Demie), who is a desperate job seeker in Los Angeles, ambushes an executive at a restaurant. Although the lady initially states she is not hiring, Maddy persuades her to offer a job with a brief yet compelling speech: “I know I’m not what you are looking for. I didn’t go to USC. I didn’t even apply for college. My parents were immigrants. I know my generation is entitled, but I don’t believe anybody owes me anything. I’m not a victim. I won’t be an HR nightmare, and I believe in capitalism.” That’s when the executive’s…

Nearly 1 in 5 job ads promote at least one legal or baseline entitlement as a “perk”, according to a recent survey by Reward Gateway, an employee engagement platform. The most common one is water, listed as a perk in 1,009 out of nearly 10,000 job adverts analyzed. On LinkedIn, it’s common to see posts from people expressing outrage over absurd or supposedly funny perks, such as “access to the owner’s pet.” Last year, the South China Morning Post reported on a job ad that sparked controversy in the country. Among the perks, it mentioned “free toilet use,” “no electricity charges for overtime,” and “free use of the lifts.” Employers should think carefully before…

Remote work seems like the best thing since sliced bread. What could possibly go wrong? Well, quite a few things, as it turns out.

In Sweden, one in four recruitment attempts fails — even as the country faces one of the highest unemployment rates in the European Union and a wave of layoffs. The findings come from a recent survey by the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise, a major employers’ organization. Companies are currently having to reject projects, postpone investments, and slow their growth because they cannot find the qualified staff they need. “It’s one of the great paradoxes of the labor market,” says Kristina Cunningham, an expert in labor and education policy and author of the survey. Six out of ten companies have attempted recruitment in the past six months, with mixed results.…

One in six job applicants may be fake. As these scams become more sophisticated, companies risk granting system access to fraudulent hires. Here’s how AI-powered job applicant scams work — and how to spot them.

Around 30% of employees hide a disability at work — often out of fear of judgment or being passed over for promotions.  In episode 24 of “Diary of CHRO,” João Ricardo speaks with Antonio Vieira Santos, Sociologist and Innovation Strategist at global cybersecurity leader Atos, to unpack this reality. A LinkedIn Top Voice, Vieira Santos also co-hosts a podcast on accessibility and maintains a blog on the same topic. “There was a report a few years ago from Boston Consulting Group that was trying to identify people with disabilities at the workplace because there was this idea that around 5% of people in…

AI is shrinking the demand for entry-level roles, and companies are prioritizing hiring more experienced, product-minded engineers. Is this the beginning of a “white-collar Armageddon,” or simply a transformation of what it means to be a developer?

If you’re hiring developers, it’s worth knowing what they’re noticing — and what might be quietly pushing them away before the conversation even gets going. Here’s a list of common red flags developers notice in those first few minutes — and that can make or break their interest early on. 1. If you haven’t read their CV with attention If you ask unnecessary questions that are answered in their CV, or if you confuse tech stack or seniority, it signals that the company is not so serious. Developers expect baseline preparation (not perfection). 2. If the role description is vague Hearing “We’re still figuring out the role” can give a developer…

Erik Arenhill is the CTO and sole developer at Umara, a Swedish sports nutrition company going global. Nearly a decade after joining the founders to improve the company’s e-commerce platform, he is now witnessing a fundamental shift in his role and across the organization. From marketing to engineering, development cycles have accelerated, and the nature of the work itself is changing. He believes developers are increasingly taking on the role of operators. Arenhill reflects that the shift comes with trade-offs. “While AI’s speed in producing thousands of lines of code can sometimes be impressive, this should also, from time to time, serve as a warning sign,” he says. “It requires a massive…

Who hasn’t cringed at a LinkedIn post packed with empty buzzwords? That feeling that, beneath the pile of gibberish, there’s little to no substance. We’ve all been there. It’s no wonder that when Kagi, a California-based premium search service, introduced its LinkedIn Speak translation feature, it struck a chord with white-collar workers all over the world. LinkedIn itself has reacted to it, with its UK head, Janine Chamberlin, saying the tool is “actually very funny.” Duolingo, the language learning app (well-known for its chronically online social media strategy), jumped on the trend. It posted on X a photo unveiling a new language: “Linkedinese.” There is a grain of truth in every joke, as they…