The Chad & Cheese Podcast

America just handed out a reality check at the ballot box, but is the pain finally easing or just changing form?

On this week’s Chad & Cheese Podcast, we break down the midterm results and what the Democratic gains actually mean for businesses, workers, and the chaos of the last few years.

We dig into the wild story of the Binance engineer who thought he was interviewing for a job and instead handed North Korean hackers the keys to a $6.34 billion heist — a sharp reminder of how sophisticated job-related social engineering has become.

We also look at the latest JOLTS job openings numbers and why a surface-level gain doesn’t erase the “no hire, no fire” reality, ongoing white-collar layoffs, or the ghost-job problem.

Then we turn to new Brookings research on ICE enforcement since 2025, which shows raids are quietly destroying more local jobs than they create through chilling effects and business disruption, especially in construction and related industries.

Plus, a “Who’d You Rather” between two very different AI startups (one training agents, one matching candidates), a personal tribute, and the usual amount of unfiltered HR tech commentary.

The election’s over. The hard questions aren’t.

The Shred is a weekly roundup of what’s making headlines in the world of employment.

Joel and Chad sit down with Holly Hobbs—Gen Z founder, first-job TikToker, and co-founder of uruture—to talk about how young people actually get work now.

She built an audience by posting her own rejection-to-apprenticeship story, then turned that into a business that helps employers reach school leavers instead of making kids game an ATS. "Number 10" even used that reach to talk to young people about careers.

They get into why apprenticeships and frontline jobs still fight for respect, what “authentic” employer brand really means on TikTok, and why posting a job with stock photos doesn’t work. AI and easy-apply come up too: not as the death of hiring, but as proof the old process was already broken.

Holly’s take on the mood among Gen Z is mixed—grim application stories on one side, side hustles and new companies on the other—and she argues first jobs should judge people on who they are, not a blank CV. It's a vision into the future and a warning for those stuck in the past.

Chapters

00:00 - Introduction to Holly Hobbs and her background

03:45 - Interviewing Prime Minister Keir Starmer and her social media strategy

07:08 - Holly's journey from job searching to founding uruture

08:48 - The mechanics of job applications and the role of CVs

09:59 - How Holly's business helps young people navigate the job market

10:34 - Understanding apprenticeships in the UK and their opportunities

11:07 - The value of blue-collar and entry-level roles

12:49 - Building an authentic employer brand for Gen Z

13:44 - The importance of visual and story-driven employer branding

14:26 - Transparency about work culture and expectations

16:06 - Diversity targets and targeted job advertising

17:09 - The impact of AI on job search and applications

18:40 - The future of job boards and entry-level recruitment

20:46 - Challenges faced by young job seekers and the role of experience

22:32 - The importance of soft skills and personality in hiring

24:16 - Using behavioral data and AI to assess candidates

25:45 - The optimism and challenges among young people today

28:16 - The importance of building networks and side hustles

32:24 - The decline of traditional CVs and the rise of new application methods

33:38 - Holly's contact info and final thoughts

Golden Handshakes, Digital Paperclips, and a Very Expensive Extinction

Chad Sowash, a rain-soaked Stephen McGrath, and Lieven Van Nieuwenhuizen log on for a dose of HR tech absurdity, corporate passive-aggression, and high-stakes market delusion.

The HR Stack Trap: Stephen takes pity on the hundreds of corporate talent leaders weeping on LinkedIn after hoarding dozens of shiny SaaS tools they have no idea how to operate.

The "Please Quit" Playbook: Microsoft casually offers voluntary buyouts to 60,000 workers, while Skydance goes with the classic combo of buyouts mixed with a forced march back to physical cubicles.

Who’d You Rather: Tech Edition: Faced with a hypothetical 2:00 AM closing-time dilemma, the hosts choose between two software suitors. ZenZapp pitches a private messaging fortress with rigid boundaries for your sanity, while Town rolls out $108M in backing and automated “Townie” bots designed to chat with each other so human employees can stay home.

Dayforce Goes Shopping: Dayforce finally emerges from its quiet era to swallow Ribbon, an AI video and voice screening startup.

Anthropic's 80-Billion-Dollar Bar Tab: The episode wraps with Anthropic gearing up for an IPO. Revenue rocketed past $16B, but it comes hitched to an eye-watering $80 billion net loss in the first half of 2026 alone.

Cue Chad retreating into the fetal position with a cold pint of Guinness to ponder the financial apocalypse.

The Shred is a weekly roundup of what’s making headlines in the world of employment.