HR Current

When companies cut jobs and invest in AI, where do the savings go—and what happens to the people whose work is changing?

In Part Two of HR Current’s breakdown of our Michael Peregrin interview, host Nicole Lobdell returns to Colleen Madden Blumenfeld’s conversation with the corporate governance adviser to examine what companies are promising, what they’re funding, and how boards can check the results.

Michael discusses the questions directors should ask about AI investments: Is the technology improving customer service? Making employees’ work easier? Are retraining commitments backed by funding—and followed through?

This episode covers:
• Where savings from workforce reductions go.
• How to measure whether AI is helping employees do their work.
• Why retraining promises deserve board oversight.
• One practical step directors can take at their next meeting.

Part One explored worker dignity and employee trust. Part Two follows the money behind those commitments.

Catch up on Part One:
https://www.challengergray.com/blog/ai-at-work-what-companies-owe-their-people-part-1/

Watch the full interview with Michael Peregrin:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTO7hkHdjYM

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HR Current is a podcast from Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

Employers are cutting fewer jobs, but hiring remains slow. What does that mean for HR leaders—and the people looking for their next role?

Colleen Madden-Blumenfeld examines September’s job cuts and employment reports, the mixed signals from Manufacturing, and the outlook for holiday hiring. Plus, three practical takeaways on finding talent, supporting departing employees, and planning for seasonal help.

A labor market update from the Challenger Content Studio at Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

Read the September Challenger Report.

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What does outplacement return to your organization? Andy Challenger breaks down the business case—from employee turnover and engagement to legal risk and employer reputation—and explains how HR leaders can bring meaningful numbers into the budget conversation.

In this episode of HR Current:
• Look beyond severance to the broader costs of a workforce reduction.
• Understand how supporting departing employees affects the people who stay.
• Tailor your business case to your CFO, CEO, and board.
• Use your company’s headcount, wages, and reduction size.
• Bring outplacement into the conversation before the transition plan is finalized.

Calculate your organization’s potential outplacement ROI:
https://info.challengergray.com/roi_of_outplacement_calculator

#Outplacement #HumanResources #HRCurrent

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When companies bring AI into the workplace, who’s looking out for the people affected?

Nicole Lobdell revisits Colleen Madden Blumenfeld’s conversation with corporate governance adviser Michael Peregrin to explore worker dignity, employee trust, and the board’s responsibility as AI changes work.

With added context along the way, this episode breaks down:
• What boards and human capital committees do
• How companies’ decisions measure up to their stated values
• Why HR needs a voice before workforce decisions are made
• How leadership’s words affect the employees who stay
• What leaders can ask to understand whether trust is slipping

This is Part One of our breakdown of the Michael Peregrin interview. In an upcoming installment, we’ll follow the money: what companies are promising, what they’re funding, and how boards can check the results.

Watch the full interview on YouTube.

Referenced in this episode:
Michael Peregrin’s “The Human Capital Committee Is Where the Action Is for Boards”
https://clsbluesky.law.columbia.edu/2026/05/29/the-human-capital-committee-is-where-the-action-is-for-boards/

August 2026 Challenger Report
https://www.challengergray.com/blog/challenger-report-august-job-cuts-up-58-consumer-products-food-lead/

Pope Leo XIV’s encyclical on human dignity and Artificial Intelligence
https://www.vatican.va/content/leo-xiv/en/encyclicals/documents/20260515-magnifica-humanitas.html

Follow HR Current on Spotify to hear future episodes, and share this conversation with someone navigating AI at work.

HR Current is a podcast from Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

Stay connected with HR Current

Subscribe on YouTube or follow HR Current on your favorite podcast platform for conversations about work, careers, and the issues shaping today’s workplace.

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U.S. employers announced 52,881 job cuts in August 2026—up 58% from July, but down 38% from August 2025. Andy Challenger breaks down the industries behind the cuts, why restructuring led the month, and what rising hiring plans tell us about the labor market.

Andy Challenger is Chief Revenue Officer at Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

Read the full August Challenger Report here.

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August's jobs report surprised economists with 162,000 new jobs, but the headline number doesn't tell the whole story.

Colleen Madden Blumenfeld of Challenger, Gray & Christmas looks beyond the topline number at where jobs are actually being added and lost, the growing divide between sectors, rising employer health benefit costs, manufacturing hiring, and what the current labor market means for employers and job seekers.

She also examines Challenger's hiring data and why rising hiring plans aren't necessarily translating quickly into filled positions.

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Subscribe on YouTube or follow HR Current on your favorite podcast platform for conversations about work, careers, and the issues shaping today’s workplace.

Have a question, topic suggestion, or guest idea? Email us at [email protected].

As AI reshapes jobs and organizations, who is responsible for considering what happens to the people affected?

Challenger's Colleen Madden Blumenfeld sits down with corporate governance expert Michael W. Peregrine to discuss the dignity of work and the responsibility corporate boards have to oversee AI's impact on the workforce.

They explore the expanding role of Human Capital Committees, AI-related worker displacement, retraining and reskilling, employee trust, the CHRO's role in major workforce decisions, and why boards should be asking these questions before — not after — restructuring decisions are made.

The conversation builds on Peregrin's article, "The Human Capital Committee Is Where the Action Is for Boards," and Challenger's latest research into AI-attributed job cuts.

Links for this Episode

Read Michael Peregrine's article:
https://clsbluesky.law.columbia.edu/2026/05/29/the-human-capital-committee-is-where-the-action-is-for-boards/

Read the July 2026 Challenger Report:
https://www.challengergray.com/blog/challenger-report-layoffs-fall-hiring-picks-up-ai-leads-for-fifth-straight-month/

HR Current is a podcast from Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

Stay connected with HR Current

Subscribe on YouTube or follow HR Current on your favorite podcast platform for conversations about work, careers, and the issues shaping today’s workplace.

Have a question, topic suggestion, or guest idea? Email us at [email protected].

Andy Challenger of Challenger, Gray & Christmas examines the state of the U.S. labor market in August 2026 and what the latest employment data means for employers and job seekers.

In this labor market update, Andy looks at the forces shaping hiring, layoffs, and worker movement, and provides context on what Challenger is seeing as employers navigate an increasingly complex labor market.

For more labor market insights and the latest Challenger Report, visit challengergray.com.

Read the August 2026 Challenger Report here.

Stay connected with HR Current

Subscribe on YouTube or follow HR Current on your favorite podcast platform for conversations about work, careers, and the issues shaping today’s workplace.

Have a question, topic suggestion, or guest idea? Email us at [email protected].

The labor market isn’t collapsing, but it isn’t moving much either.

Nicole Lobdell and Colleen Madden Blumenfeld of Challenger, Gray & Christmas break down the July 2026 jobs data and what it means for employers and job seekers. They discuss hiring, layoffs, unemployment, and the low-hire, low-fire environment that continues to make the labor market feel unusually difficult to navigate.

Read the July 2026 Challenger Report here.

Stay connected with HR Current

Subscribe on YouTube or follow HR Current on your favorite podcast platform for conversations about work, careers, and the issues shaping today’s workplace.

Have a question, topic suggestion, or guest idea? Email us at [email protected].