Howdy HR friends!👋

Hope you're settling into 2026 because it's already coming in hot.

Humanoid robots are learning factory jobs, reverse discrimination lawsuits dominated the courts, GameStop's CEO is betting everything on performance pay, and IBM's facing allegations of age discrimination via PIPs. Oh, and bonuses are down but pay transparency laws are spreading fast. HR, welcome to the new normal where nothing is normal anymore.

Welcome to the Friday 5 - five articles, five takeaways. Five minutes away from the chaos to grab a coffee and get caught up on everything that's been happening in HR this week!

🚦Coming up

In today’s edition

🤖 Atlas learns to do jumping jacks and sort car parts,

🧑‍⚖️ Reverse discrimination lawsuits dominated 2025's HR headlines,

💰 GameStop CEO might earn $35B if he 10x's the company,

👴 IBM sued for allegedly PIPs-ing out older workers,

💸 Bonuses shrinking but pay transparency laws expanding globally

Today’s edition is presented by SelectSoftware Reviews

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💭The Friday Five

The week robots got smarter and workplace lawsuits got messier 🎢

🤖 Boston Dynamics' Atlas robot is coming for factory jobs. The AI-powered humanoid learns through VR demos and motion capture, then trains 4,000 digital twins in simulation. Goldman Sachs predicts a $38B humanoid market by 2035.

🔗 Read more [CBS News]

⚖️ 'Reverse discrimination' cases exploded in 2025. From Google to Walmart to Paramount, White workers, men, and straight employees filed discrimination claims alleging DEI policies created unfair treatment. Courts delivered mixed verdicts throughout the year.

🔗 Read more [HR Dive]

🎮 Ryan Cohen's GameStop compensation is 100% performance-based. He gets nothing unless GameStop hits a $20B market cap, and could earn $35B if it reaches $100B. Elon Musk energy, but for video game retail.

🔗 Read more [HR Dive]

👴 61-year-old IBM employee claims age discrimination via impossible PIP. Frederick Palmer alleges he was put on an unattainable performance plan weeks after burying his daughter, while younger colleagues with worse performance were spared or given easier goals.

🔗 Read more [HRD America]

💸 Bonuses are down, but pay transparency laws are heating up. Only 39% of US workers got bonuses in 2025 (down from 44% in 2021). Meanwhile, EU pay transparency rules kick in this June, requiring salary disclosure and gender pay gap audits.

🔗 Read more [Fortune]

For easy reading

That’s it for today.

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