AI Hiring Regulation Lags as Mobley v. Workday Picks Up Steam

Yesterday, I had a great conversation with Serge Boudreau on the HR Morning Show about the impact of AI on talent acquisition, the state of sourcing, and where the recruiting profession is headed.

We also talked about the ERE Recruiting Innovation Summit in Atlanta on May 5-6. The first 25 discounted registrations went fast, so we opened one more batch of 25 at $799. These are first-come, first-served, and I expect them to disappear quickly.

Two more Summit announcements:

• Ron Fish will be our emcee. He’s led talent acquisition at multiple companies and has been an important voice expanding the inclusion conversation to include people with disabilities. I’m excited to be working with Ron on the Summit!

• We still have a few speaker slots left. If you are doing interesting, effective work in TA and have a passion for sharing with your peers, I want to hear from you.

Last May, I wrote about the state of AI regulation, particularly as it impacts hiring. Since then, we’ve seen both acceleration and friction. Colorado’s Artificial Intelligence Act has been delayed until August 2026. California’s AB 1018 never passed, but their Civil Rights Department now has explicit rules about the use of automation and AI in the hiring process, which went into effect in October.

At the federal level, the administration has signaled that their priority is to promote AI companies as a strategically important sector of the economy, with economic and national security implications. In December, President Trump issued an Executive Order directing the Attorney General to create a task force specifically to challenge state AI laws, and it explicitly cites Colorado’s law as an example. The order gave 90 days to the FTC and the Department of Commerce to develop specific policies, so expect more developments soon.

A similar dynamic is playing out in the European Union, with caution at the top and member states pushing forward.

After lobbying by the U.S. and tech companies, the EU is delaying their rules for use of high-risk AI (employment decisions are considered high-risk) until August 2027. Meanwhile, individual countries are moving with their own requirements. Italy, for example, has taken a direct approach by hard-wiring transparency duties into any AI or fully automated systems that influence hiring decisions.

On the judicial front, the Mobley v. Workday case continues to build, and the attorneys leading the collective action have launched a site for potential members to join. The action is open to anyone over the age of 40 who applied for a job using Workday’s HiredScore system, was scored by their AI, and was rejected for the position. In 2022, HiredScore claimed to have been used by over 40% of the Fortune 100, so that’s a lot of potential members.

If you are using AI anywhere in talent acquisition, assume you will eventually need to explain how it works, how it is monitored, and how you know it is not creating unfair outcomes. I’ll keep tracking what changes and what it means for TA leaders, and I hope you’ll join us in Atlanta to compare notes in person.

— David

P.S. If you found this newsletter valuable, chances are your colleagues will too. Feel free to forward it along—and if it landed in your inbox by way of a friend, you can subscribe here to get the next one directly.

More Recruiting Insights

What to Expect in HR Tech This Year from Adoption to Accountability. Madeline Laurano at Aptitude Research says the HR tech story is shifting from adoption to accountability. Based on the conversations I’ve had with TA leaders, I agree. The hype around AI has been everywhere, but we need to demonstrate the effectiveness of these tools beyond the carefully curated case studies. (Aptitude Research)

The ZipRecruiter Survey of New Hires. There’s lots of interesting data in this report, but the one that caught my eye was that there was a drop in the use of AI on the job from Q3 to Q4 2025. Is this an outlier? (ZipRecruiter)

Job applicants are winning the AI arms race against recruiters. I’ve written about the escalating AI arms race between candidates and talent acquisition before, but it’s going to be one of the big headaches for recruiters in 2026. One quote from the article I’m not so sure about: “Companies may one day abandon the job application entirely, to the delight of recruiters and candidates alike.” Everyone is frustrated with the way the hiring process works today, but I don’t see how an ecosystem of bots talking to bots makes it better. (The Economist)

Conferences

ERE Recruiting Innovation Summit

Atlanta, GA
May 5-6, 2025

The ERE Recruiting Innovation Summit is a practitioner-led event built for talent acquisition leaders who want real answers, not hype. Join us for practical sessions, meaningful peer connection, and live “Ask Me Anything” office hours with our speakers.

If you care about where recruiting is headed and want ideas you can put to work immediately, you belong in this room.

(ERE Recruiting Innovation Summit)

Webinars

Closing the Loop: Why Feedback Is Your Secret Weapon in Hiring

January 20, 2026 | 2:00 PM EST | 1 Hour

Rob Lopez, VP of Talent at Thumbtack, will share how structured feedback between recruiters, hiring managers, and candidates strengthens pipelines, boosts brand perception, and turns rejections into future hires. Expect practical tactics for coaching managers, giving legally safe candidate feedback, and capturing qualitative insights so teams actually close the loop. (ERE)