The Rise of AI Slop: When Work Pretends to Work

Hey HR Pros!

Is AI making work better—or just noisier? As generative tools flood the workplace, a new challenge is emerging: AI slop—content that looks like work but lacks real value.

In this issue, we spotlight how this growing trend is quietly draining productivity, frustrating teams, and changing what “good work” even means.

Upcoming In This Issue:

• 🔍 Case Study: How McDonalds Reimagined People Strategy Globally

• 🧠 Support Wanted: Counselling Demand Rises While Access Slips Away

• 🤖 Latest AI Trend | The Rise of AI Slop: When Work Pretends to Work

• 🎙️ Featured Podcast: How Do I Fix A Competitive Or Hostile Team Culture?

For HR teams expanding across borders, payroll and compliance can turn into major roadblocks. Different laws, currencies, and timelines make it hard to keep things consistent — especially when your systems aren’t built for global scale.

That’s why many HR leaders turn to SSR’s free HR software matching service. It helps HR leaders find trusted EOR, PEO, and payroll vendors and get this hectic task off your plat so you can focus on the important stuff.

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• Changes to immigration rules create new concerns for employers

🔍 Case Study: How McDonalds Reimagined People Strategy Globally

source

Challenge: With over 750,000 employees across 14 international markets outside the U.S., McDonald’s International Operated Markets (IOM) faced the challenge of aligning HR practices across diverse cultural, regulatory, and operational landscapes.

The key question: How do you create a unified, people-first strategy that is both scalable and deeply localized?

Solution: Under the leadership of Emilee DeMartino, SVP & CPO of IOM, McDonald’s designed a resilient, tech-enabled, and inclusive people strategy grounded in a “culture of care.”

Strategy & Implementation

• Embedded Core Values: Codified five global values—serve, inclusion, integrity, community, family—to guide decision-making across all levels.

• Global People Standards: Rolled out standards to ensure safe, respectful, and inclusive workplaces across regions.

• Tech Modernization: Introduced AI-powered HR tools to streamline recruitment, reduce admin, and enhance employee-manager communication.

• Flexible Learning: Partnered with LinkedIn Learning to offer 22,000+ courses, enabling personalized development pathways.

Results:

• Turnover Down 30%: Over three years, IOM turnover hit an all-time low due to enhanced employee experience and engagement.

• Scalable Innovation: Tech-enabled systems scaled globally while allowing local teams to customize for cultural and operational fit.

• Employee Empowerment: A measurable boost in engagement, with teams feeling more valued, supported, and able to make an impact.

By combining empathy, data, and localized innovation within a strong global framework, Emilee DeMartino’s people strategy is already delivering results.

🧠 Support Wanted: Counselling Demand Rises While Access Slips Away

In workplaces across the UK, demand for counselling is rising fast, yet fewer people have access to it—and even fewer are actually using the support that’s available.

Behind the numbers is a more human story: stigma, fear of judgment, and systems that are too complex or impersonal to feel safe.

Key Insights for HR Leaders

• 📉 Access to workplace counselling fell from 25% in 2021 to 22% in 2025, despite a 12-point rise in demand.

• 🧩 Only 11% of employees used mental health counselling in the past year, down from 14% in 2023, signaling declining uptake.

• 💬 Stigma and confidentiality fears are top reasons employees avoid services, fearing judgment or career damage.

• 📊 Employees with proactive support are 8x more likely to feel highly productive and 2x more likely to avoid sick leave.

read the full 648-word article here

HR LOLs

🤖 Latest AI Trend | The Rise of AI Slop: When Work Pretends to Work

We’ve all seen it—emails that sound overly polished but say absolutely nothing, reports padded with fluff, or decks so shiny they distract from how little they actually communicate.

In the age of generative AI, it's becoming a workplace epidemic—and it’s starting to cost real money, time, and trust.

Key Insights for HR Leaders

• 📉 40% of white-collar workers say they’ve encountered AI-generated “workslop” in the past month—polished, hollow, and unhelpful.

• 💸 Workslop is costly: Researchers estimate it wastes $9 million in productivity annually in a typical 10,000-person company.

• 🤐 50%+ of employees admit to producing AI-slop, often out of burnout, laziness, silent resistance, or pressure to look productive.

• ⚠️ AI backfire is real: Most companies focus on AI adoption but ignore subtle cultural risks like fake output and peer distrust.

read the full article

🎙️ Featured Podcast: How Do I Fix A Competitive Or Hostile Team Culture?