The Jim Stroud Podcast

All those AI Layoffs Were for Nothing

Gartner studied 350 executives at billion-dollar companies. Eighty percent had cut staff for AI. None of it correlated with higher returns. Goldman Sachs found the stock bounce is gone. Forrester predicted half of all AI-attributed layoffs would be reversed by 2027. The data is in, and it says the same thing from every angle: the cuts were theater. This episode breaks down who knew, who stayed quiet, and what the companies actually winning at AI did instead. Plus, what HR leaders, recruiters, and job seekers can do with the receipts now that they're public. Brought to you by my newsletters: * The Recruiting Life - Clarity on what's happening now and next in the world of work. * Career Intelligence Weekly - Tracking the invisible job market for smarter career decisions. Subscribe to both at https://newsletter.jimstroud.com [https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqbWc1NVRfVDRqcmotVUFoejJNdE5PYk8wdjRDZ3xBQ3Jtc0tuOUpzY1NEeF9sRUVGMWp3MUowOHZONEc4MUN6ZW43Nm9SYVhyT2k0TFljT1ZhTFhCb2JfYkQ4X09jTUZwcExacGkyUzEycTRob0lkeTVnRy16SVF2ZnBFTmNaeUV2c3NReUpER0p2dVg2cUZYYXJTcw&q=https%3A%2F%2Fnewsletter.jimstroud.com%2F&v=DVaj1FUQJxU] Research related to this podcast is cited in the Sunday, May 17, 2026 issue of The Recruiting Life Newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

Social Media Background Checks: What Job Seekers Should Know

Jim Stroud reports from the Recruiting Innovation Summit with Ben Mones, founder and CEO of Fama, to discuss how social media background checks are changing hiring. They unpack what employers actually look for online, what job seekers should and should not worry about, and why compliance, context, and public behavior matter in today’s screening process. Our guest: Ben Mones, CEO at Fama web: https://fama.io [https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqa2pzTm16ZDlfbFZNOTViN0dNM2xLanhxdFR4UXxBQ3Jtc0tuSE5HWXVFYkZzQktHYkJYMmxOS1V5MVlSems1T0FfVGJtRkRjT3YwNTNiaE1rT1JVQ1E2TS1aSzh3dXMzQ2Ytb0pqVWl1bXM2UndzSmlDZzVvUzJiOUcwMUJkN1NQMWQ1Z2hycWRXc1FjRDZLc19RZw&q=https%3A%2F%2Ffama.io%2F&v=xBWDQDFWzhk] linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-mones... [https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqa3dvZTNhWkhpZURUQktpdG94VGNiTUFlTkx4UXxBQ3Jtc0tuODVuZi1RWW1Tc0c1LVZ5ZktibVZXOE9rdDJ2bGhjT2RGQlhLeGNpSjF1UG9NMXc1Njg1MWwxd1dMUzItcU5JVGV6bU12R3dBUUhYT1NDVHYyS1NPSjVfUUFZRVRrSHZ6WS1TcHBMVjdvYzRrSnRSNA&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.linkedin.com%2Fin%2Fben-mones-45740a2a%2F&v=xBWDQDFWzhk] Read: Career Intelligence Weekly News analysis from a job seeker perspective. https://careerintelligence.beehiiv.com/ [https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqa0FsaTM3bzJVeHN6OU5xb1J4Qkt0Q2JkMldWQXxBQ3Jtc0tsRjhZX0N3Uk80LUd6VFZvOEpoS2JMME5SV194S0dvRTJuU3VfWFFmVDFJdUtPU0tBa21QSHc0amRvX1lsYnpkT3gtQk5hQlI1TExmQktDVlhPeG9pR2k3VC1CQ213VU1iVnFvTEVaUVE5aGN4MlE4dw&q=https%3A%2F%2Fcareerintelligence.beehiiv.com%2F&v=xBWDQDFWzhk] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

What Your Face is Worth at Work

What Your Face Is Worth at Work What if your career isn’t just shaped by your skills—but by your appearance? This episode dives into the rise of “looksmaxxing” and the uncomfortable truth about lookism in hiring and workplace success. As Gen Z responds to what gets rewarded, we’re forced to ask: Is this extreme behavior… or a logical reaction to a biased system? Because if merit isn’t the only factor— What does that mean for the future of work? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

The Insider Advantage Nobody Tells You About

It's 11:47 PM. You hit submit on another application and watch it dissolve into the void. You did everything right — the degree, the internship, the certifications squeezed between finals — and still, silence. That low ache behind your sternum? It's not anxiety. It's intelligence responding to a system nobody explained to you. Here's the truth the career center will never say out loud: the job market is not a meritocracy. It never was. It's a relationship architecture — who knows you, who trusts you, whose mind you're on at 9 AM Tuesday when something opens up before it's ever posted. You were handed a map that doesn't show the actual terrain. You were taught to knock on the door. Nobody told you how the door works. In this episode, career intelligence analyst Jim Stroud — veteran of Microsoft, Google, and Randstad — reveals the counterintuitive move a small percentage of students make in college that quietly rewires everything. It's strategic. It's almost unfair. And it's hiding in plain sight. Effort gets you exhausted. Visibility gets you hired. Tune in before the next application disappears into the void. ... Brought to you by: Career Intelligence Weekly - Tracking the invisible job market for smarter career decisions. Subscribe now at https://newsletter.jimstroud.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

The Demographic Squeeze

You're panicking about the wrong thing. While you doomscroll about AI stealing your job, the real threat is gutting the workforce behind your back. No headlines. Just math. Picture a burst pipe. Wednesday morning. Water in your drywall. You call a plumber — and wait three weeks. Because he's 61, his apprentice retired, and the new kid doesn't exist. The skilled trades shortage is already costing the U.S. over a billion a year in plumbing alone. Construction needs 349,000 new workers this year. Electricians? 81,000 openings a year for a decade. The CEO of Indeed says we're facing a 20 million-worker shortfall — and 80% of it isn't automation. It's demographics. Boomers walking out the door with nobody behind them. Japan saw this coming 30 years ago and pulled a lever America doesn't have. This episode tells you what it was, why we can't copy it, and why no chatbot will ever crawl through your flooded basement. You've been watching the dazzling horizon. Meanwhile, the scaffolding behind you is coming apart. The machines aren't the story. The silence is. Tune in before the pipe bursts. ... Brought to you by: The Recruiting Life newsletter - Clarity on what's happening now and next in the world of work. Subscribe now at https://newsletter.jimstroud.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]