Tomorrow is Thanksgiving here in the U.S., so I wanted to pause for a moment and say thank you.

I have been in and around the talent acquisition profession for nearly three decades. I’m most comfortable in the background, elevating others and giving them a platform through our community and events.

When I returned to writing ERE Weekly in May, it forced me to start writing again and to re-immerse myself in talent acquisition exactly at the time when our profession is being reshaped by AI and reinvented on a scale I have never seen before.

I am grateful that I get to talk with and hear ideas from the smartest people in talent acquisition and recruiting tech every day, especially at a time when everything about how we work is changing. It’s a privilege.

I am grateful for the work that recruiters do. Talent acquisition takes heat because we are so often the bearers of bad news, but helping people find work is a noble profession, and it deserves far more recognition than it gets.

I am grateful that I get to work with Danielle and Josh. We are a small but mighty team, and their creativity, resilience and drive are unmatched. Every morning we have a meeting about what we are going to do to bring the talent acquisition professionals in our community together, and I always leave that meeting with new ideas and excitement.

Most of all, I am grateful to all of you for being part of our ERE community, for supporting our events, and for sharing your expertise so generously with one another. We will have an announcement soon about our next Summit date and location, and I hope you will be part of what we are building.

Wishing you and your families a restful, meaningful Thanksgiving.

— 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.

Featured Story

Pour One Out: AI and the Death of the Candidate Experience – Part 3

Matt Charney wraps up his series on how AI is impacting candidate experience. In an environment where everything is being driven to algorithmic efficiency and sameness, there’s an advantage in retaining human connection. (ERE)

More Recruiting Insights

Inside the workplace tension at the world's largest HR organization. Ever since Johnny C. Taylor Jr. joined SHRM as CEO in 2017, the organization has received criticism from liberal members and influencers because of its work with the Trump administration. It’s boiling over again because this year the association laid off a number of employees and removed “equity” from their messaging on what they formerly called DE&I. Some of those former employees, like Benjamin Schmidt and Alexandria Kinsey, have gone public (and viral) about their beef with the association. The passion of these former employees is obvious, but I am skeptical that it will matter any more than past social media rebellions have, as SHRM continues to grow. (Business Insider)

Firm That’s Firing Talent Acquisition People Says It Can’t Find People to Hire. Lost in the noise about AI “obsoleting” talent acquisition professionals is the cyclical element. Companies over-hired TA during the pandemic, and most of the layoffs we’re seeing now are a correction from that peak. When they cut too far, we end up with stories like this one about PwC. (Going Concern)

Korn Ferry’s TA Tends 2026 Report. There’s some good stuff in here, if you ignore the trend 5, which is the old cliche about TA getting a seat at the table. The report finds 84% of leaders plan to use AI next year and over half expect to add autonomous AI agents, critical thinking outranks AI certificates, entry-level cuts risk future pipelines, and office mandates are hindering recruitment. Trend 4 is spot-on, identifying an issue where organizations are throwing cash at AI without first properly thinking through strategy and employee adoption. (Korn Ferry)

Webinars

From Research to Results: Inside Recruiter Nation 2025

December 3, 2025 | 12:00 PM EDT | 1 Hour

Join us as we unpack what more than 1,200 talent-acquisition professionals revealed about today’s recruiting realities — and how you can turn those insights into a winning strategy for 2026.

We’ll share the data behind today’s candidate-supply challenges, tech-stack shake-ups, the rise of skills-first hiring, AI-adoption hurdles, and more. Whether you’re a TA leader or practitioner, this session is your chance to move beyond the headlines and get actionable findings to sharpen your hiring game. (ERE)