The friday 5: ghostworking, workplace tears, AI headcount

Happy Friday, HR friends! 🙌 

This week's stories share an undercurrent of workplace strain. Employees are checking out entirely or breaking down at their desks, HR leaders are drowning in data they can't actually use, and a major retailer's CEO just told analysts point-blank that AI is coming for a significant chunk of jobs. 

The employment deal is under pressure from every direction, and HR is right in the middle of it.

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IN TODAY’S EDITION

• 👻 The employee who stopped working for a year, and nobody noticed

• 😢 Half of U.S. workers cried at the office last month. Half.

• 🤖 A CEO just told investors AI will bring a "significant reduction in head count"

• ⚖️ The EU's pay transparency deadline is June 7, is your org ready?

• 📊 71% of HR leaders are ignoring their data and going with their gut instead

THE FRIDAY 5

🫥 When the boss isn't watching and the benefits are disappearing

👻 The employee who stopped working for a year, and her boss never noticed.

A viral Substack post by Leyla Kazim, a London-based corporate worker, has HR circles buzzing this week. Kazim describes suspecting her role was "irrelevant and futile" and resolving to stop doing any real work.

The story is landing right as layoff anxiety rises and RTO mandates tighten, and it's prompting real questions for HR: Is ghostworking a management failure, a disengagement signal, or a preview of what happens when employees stop believing their work matters?

🔗 Read more — HR Executive

😢 Half of U.S. employees cried at work last month. Half.

A new report from mental health platform Modern Health (surveying 1,000 workers at companies with 250+ employees) found that 51% had cried at work in the past month, with rising rates of panic attacks and substance use on the job as well.

Employees report feeling deeply unsupported even as expectations climb.

🔗 Read more — Fast Company

🤖 A major retailer just told investors AI will bring a "significant reduction in head count."

Bed Bath & Beyond CEO Marcus Lemonis didn't bury the lede. In first-quarter earnings remarks this week, he told analysts plainly that as the company integrates AI across supply chain, IT, accounting, marketing, and merchandising, job cuts are coming. "I have to be brutally clear and honest with everybody," Lemonis said.

It's one of the more candid executive statements yet on AI's workforce impact, and a preview of what more leaders may start saying out loud as AI moves from pilot to operations.

🔗 Read more — HR Dive

⚖️ The EU's most significant pay equity law in decades has a hard deadline of June 7.

Companies operating anywhere in the EU have under six weeks to comply with the EU Pay Transparency Directive, one of the most comprehensive pay equity laws in decades. Requirements include demonstrating equal pay for equal work, giving job applicants clear access to pay ranges and progression criteria, and meeting regular reporting obligations. HR leaders outside Europe who haven't been tracking this should start now.

🔗 Read more — HR Executive

📊 71% of HR leaders are ignoring their data and going with gut instinct instead.

Here's an uncomfortable finding from Korn Ferry: despite massive investment in people analytics platforms, 71% of the 1,600 C-suite and senior HR leaders surveyed say the sheer volume of data has pushed them to rely on gut instinct rather than the numbers.

The irony is sharp: HR has been pushing for a seat at the data table for years, and now that the data is there, it's too overwhelming to act on.

🔗 Read more — HR Dive

That’s it for today!

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Have a great weekend!