Meet Goldman Sachs’ New AI “Employee”

Hey HR Pros!

This week’s stories dive into bold HR bets—from AI engineers joining the workforce to $18K rent perks tied to 70-hour workweeks. We’re spotlighting the strategies pushing boundaries in productivity, sustainability, and talent attraction and asking for your take in our latest HR Pulse Check.

Upcoming In This Issue:

• ❓️ HR Pulse Check | Can This $18K Perk Actually Work?

• 🤖 Latest on AI | Meet Goldman Sachs’ New “Employee”

• 📊 New Data | Where AI Is Thriving and Where It’s Getting Lost in Translation

• 🌱 HR Tips from HR Pros | Sustainability as a talent tool?

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 📰 Latest in HR News

• Glassdoor and Indeed announce layoffs, reportedly due to AI

• Target Employees Return to Office as RTO Mandates Lead the Way

• Starbucks orders four-day in-office work for employees

• Everything’s bigger in Texas, except the scope of its new AI law

❓️ HR Pulse Check | Can This $18K Perk Actually Work?

Rilla, an AI startup is offering employees $18,000 per year to live within 15 minutes of HQ, but there’s a catch: a mandatory 70-hour workweek. Employees who opt in also get gym stipends, daily meals, and top-tier pay—up to $300K–$350K for engineers and sales roles.

Only 15% of employees have taken the offer so far, and candidates are warned up front: this is a high-intensity culture designed for “always-on” personalities.

For HR leaders, it raises a key question: Is this a smart incentive to attract high performers—or a fast track to burnout and attrition?

💡 Key Considerations for HR Leaders

• Rilla ties housing incentives to time-based productivity, not outcomes—an approach counter to the current trend toward flexibility.

• The policy may attract specific talent types (e.g. ex-founders, competitive personalities), but could exclude others who value balance.

• Burnout risk is real, even with perks like wellness stipends and high compensation.

• The opt-in model offers choice, but also highlights the limits of extreme work expectations in today’s job market.

read the full 429-word article here

🤖 Latest on AI | Meet Goldman Sachs’ New “Employee”

Goldman Sachs is officially deploying an AI software engineer named Devin, created by startup Cognition, to work alongside its human developers.

Key Insights

• Devin is billed as the world’s first autonomous AI software engineer, capable of independently completing complex programming tasks.

• Goldman Sachs may scale Devin from hundreds to thousands, depending on how it performs in early deployments.

• Devin’s tasks include upgrading internal codebases, freeing human developers for more strategic engineering work.

• Other roles at the bank may soon be automated, as leadership sees AI reaching developer-level performance.

Read the full 450-word article here

😄 Comic Relief (HR Edition)

📊 New Data | Where AI Is Thriving and Where It’s Getting Lost in Translation

BambooHR has just released a sweeping new report on how employees are actually using AI at work and the gaps are bigger than expected. The data reveals a growing divide between executives and individual contributors, with sharp differences in usage, trust, and access to training.

From generational shifts to gender gaps and company-size disparities, the report paints a nuanced picture of who’s embracing AI and who’s being left behind.

Key Insights:

• Only 18% of ICs use AI daily compared to 72% of VP/C-suite executives, revealing a sharp usage divide by role.

• Just 32% of employees receive formal AI training from their employer—despite 72% wanting to improve their AI skills.

• Only 30% of employees can correctly identify AI-generated content, yet 54% think they can - highlighting a widespread illusion of AI detection.

• Men (60%) use AI daily more than women (40%), and only 49% of women believe AI is secure, compared to 67% of men.

• Hybrid workers (53%) are the most likely to use AI daily, followed by in-office (50%) and remote workers (39%).

• AI helps with empathy: 44% use it to draft difficult conversations, and 8% even use it to learn how to be funny.

• Employees at larger companies (500+ employees) are far more likely to receive training (45%) than those at companies under 50 employees (21%).

Read the full 1,800-word article here

🌱 HR Tips from HR Pros | Sustainability as a talent tool?

In conversations with HR leaders Byron Clayton (Pandora), Therése Götsten (IKEA), and Sonja Wilkerson (Bloom Energy), it’s clear that integrating sustainability into talent strategy goes far beyond messaging.

Their insights show that when sustainability is embedded into business practices with transparency, purpose, and leadership support it can become a magnet for mission-driven employees.

💡 Top Sustainability Tips from CHROs

• Embed it deeply: Make sustainability a core part of business strategy, not just an HR talking point (Pandora).

• Back it with data: Use measurable goals and public reporting to prove real progress (Pandora).

• Lead from purpose: Let values drive innovation—think beyond products to people and planet (IKEA).

• Make it collective: Empower all employees to contribute, no matter their role (IKEA).

• Stay authentic: Let the mission speak for itself—avoid over-branding your green efforts (Bloom Energy).

• Hire for alignment: Attract purpose-driven talent who connect naturally to your sustainability goals (Bloom Energy).

Read the full 1,050-word article here