by Callum Borchers, Wall Street Journal, September 17, 2025 The official story of the job market is finally catching up to the harsh reality. Job seekers have complained for some time now—to me, their friends, pets or anyone who will listen—that it is deceptively hard to get hired. Normal people don’t wear out the refresh button on BLS.gov when the federal government is about to drop new employment data, like I do. But they know in broad strokes that the numbers continued to look good long after the postpandemic hiring frenzy subsided. Many felt a disconnect [...]

by Ray Smith, Wall Street Journal, August 12, 2025 Artificial intelligence has taken over so much of the job search that employers are resorting to a retro move: the in-person job interview. Virtual interviews have become the new normal in hiring in recent years, driven by the rise of remote work and companies’ desire to speed up hiring. Trouble is, more candidates are using AI tools to cheat by feeding them answers off screen, especially in technical interviews, recruiters say. In rarer cases, AI-enabled scammers are impersonating job seekers with the aim of stealing data or [...]

by Alexander Kirss and Kate McLaren-Poole, Harvard Business Review, July 18, 2025 The past five years have proved a crucible moment for business leaders as volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity (VUCA) threatened not just organizational progress but outright viability. Having an experienced C-suite has been an essential driver of performance. An October 2024 Gartner survey of 200 C-suite executives found that companies where executives have an average tenure of five years or more outperformed on revenue, customer experience, and other key metrics, as compared to companies with less tenured executive teams. Retaining senior executives, though, is [...]

by Ethan Bernstein and Michael B. Horn, Wall Street Journal, June 11, 2025 Today’s playbook for retaining high-performing employees is pretty straightforward: more money, a fancier title, better benefits and a greater sense of “purpose.” The problem? It isn’t working. Individuals change jobs more than ever before—every 3.9 years, on average, globally, with younger generations moving even more often. Our research shows that their reasons for switching are more complex than the ones people consistently check off on surveys—such as better salaries and titles. After 15 years of studying more than 1,000 job changes, we’ve [...]

by Zach Mercurio, Harvard Business Review, May 29, 2025 Last year, I worked alongside a major airline’s cleaning crew at a busy airport. In the airline business, turnaround time is everything. When you deplane, these workers begin sanitizing the bathrooms, seats, and floors. They’re under constant pressure. The team I observed that day had some of the highest cleanliness scores at the airline, and it didn’t take me long to find out why. Tanya is the cleanliness support coordinator who audits the planes and is responsible for the team. When I met her, she took me [...]

by Ron Carucci, Harvard Business Review, April 28, 2025 Recent research reveals a sharp decline in people’s confidence in their executive teams’ capacity to execute, align, and endure the volatility of economic, geopolitical, and technological disruptions. These views hold true across organizations: Everyone from boards to the C-suite to employees believe their leadership teams are unable to withstand the demands of conflicting constituents and put the interests of the enterprise above their own. I’m hearing this too. My clients cite several forces that are encroaching on their cohesion and ability to lead—and subsequently diminishing others’ confidence [...]

By Daniel Muzio, Claudia Gabbionneta and John Mawdsley HBR, March 31, 2025 Prior research on poaching “star” employees has shown that hiring stars is not only difficult but often counter-productive. Newly hired stars often find it challenging to reproduce their exceptional performance. They may also harm their new employer, for example, by hindering innovation or lowering incumbents’ performance. This is both surprising and troubling given the costs, time, and effort involved in the hiring process. Organizations that rely on the knowledge and skills of their employees as their primary asset and source of competitive advantage still [...]

By Lynda Spiegle, Wall Street Journal, February 16, 2025 Job candidates have never been fans of the application process at many companies. But their complaints have reached a level that I’ve never seen before. My LinkedIn feed is filled with posts railing against companies that primarily rely on software to screen and track applicants, as well as those that create unnecessary steps to apply for a job, refuse to provide meaningful salary ranges and, most egregiously, “ghost” candidates—meaning they suddenly stop communicating with them. Such complaints can damage [...]

By Xena Wang, Harvard Business Review, January 28, 2025 Picture this: You’re a manager seeking to fill an important position on your team. You’ve shortlisted a few people, but you’re looking for the candidate to give your final rose. Based on their resumes, you know each finalist is tech-savvy enough to perform well in the role. But you want the entire package: someone who will enhance your team, both in skill and in compatibility. You’re banking on the interview round to find the perfect match. The caveat? You’ve never interviewed someone before. How do you prepare [...]