Hire Calling

Breaking Job News: SHRM Faces $11.5M Discrimination Verdict & New Data Reveals 2026 Hiring Priorities

• Pete Newsome

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HR’s biggest watchdog just failed its own audit, and the fallout is a warning shot for every employer. Host Pete Newsome breaks down the $11.5M discrimination and retaliation verdict against SHRM, how a single conflict of interest unraveled their investigation, and what true independence and accountability should look like inside any HR process.

Then he zooms out to the labor market signals shaping 2026. Fresh Upwork data and more than a million U.S. job postings reveal significant month-over-month spikes in QA testing, AI and machine-learning skills, and AI-app integration. Yet the biggest surprise is a 48% surge in demand for interpreters and language support, proof that even as AI adoption accelerates, businesses still rely heavily on human creativity, communication, and cultural nuance to make technology useful and trusted.

Pete also breaks down what 1,000+ hiring managers say will matter most next year: software proficiency, data analysis, cybersecurity awareness, and AI literacy on the hard-skills side, paired with communication, professionalism, resilience, and accountability on the soft-skills side. The message is clear: technical skills open doors, but human skills determine who moves ahead.

News Articles:
1. Upwork November Hiring Report: https://www.upwork.com/research/monthly-hiring-report-november-2025
2. Hiring Managers Reveal the Most Important Hard and Soft Skills for 2026:  https://www.resumetemplates.com/hiring-managers-reveal-the-most-important-hard-and-soft-skills-for-2026/
3. SHRM Verdict Information: https://www.businessinsider.com/shrm-discrimination-lawsuit-verdict-11-million-racism-retaliation

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👋 FOLLOW PETE NEWSOME ONLINE:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/petenewsome/
Blog Articles: https://www.4cornerresources.com/blog

Pete Newsome:

Today's job market headlines include the latest hiring trends from Upwork and the top hard and soft skills hiring managers will look for in 2026. But first, imagine the organization that teaches every company how to prevent discrimination getting hit with an 11.5 million discrimination verdict themselves. That's exactly what happened to the Society for Human Resources Management, which is commonly known as SHERM. They're the world's largest HR group. And last week, a jury found they discriminated against an employee and retaliated when she spoke up. This seems hard to believe, but what was revealed in the trial is that the same SHERM employee who investigated her discrimination complaint also drafted her termination paperwork. You can't make this up. There's an employment attorney named Alice K. Jump who told Business Insider the optics are bad because they've held themselves out as an authority on best practices. And that's what this group is known for.

Pete Newsome:

And how embarrassing for them. I mean, what a credibility. I can't help but wonder how they will survive something like this. But no surprise is that Sherm immediately said it plans to appeal, claiming the verdict does not reflect the facts, the law, or the truth of how Sherm operates. Of course it doesn't. When the organization responsible for setting HR standards gets hit with a discrimination verdict, every employer should take note. And the message is simple your and HR investigations must be independent. The person who's doing it must be trained, and it must be defensible. Because if this organization, again, who puts themselves out there as the standards bearer, the one who tells every other organization what to do, what to do, and they there's a lot of people that pay them money for their information. If they can get burned by a flawed process, well, anyone potentially can. So make sure that is an area that you have very tight if you're an employer.

Pete Newsome:

And while HR credibility is taking a hit, the job market is sending a very different message about what companies actually need right now. According to Upworks November Hiring report that just came out, businesses are adopting AI fast while hiring humans to keep up. Data from more than one million job posts on Upworks US marketplace and a monthly business poll survey reveal that demand for quality assurance testing jumped 19% month over month, demand for AI and machine learning skills grew 16%, and demand for AI app integration skills rose 7%. The most in-demand skills last month were graphic design, Python video editing, AI-generated video, and Chat GPT. But the most surprising spike was a 48% surge in demand for interpreters and language support roles, plus big jumps in creative skills.

Pete Newsome:

Businesses are adopting AI, but they still rely on human creativity, judgment, and communication to make that output usable. Also, more than 40% of small and medium businesses plan to hire digital marketing freelancers during the holiday season. Now that's indicative of a typical seasonal boost in marketing, e-commerce, and customer-facing roles. It's not a statement on the uh a turnaround in the job market. I wish it were, but it's just not. I think it's just more seasonality than anything else. But for freelancers and job seekers, there is a sweet spot forming where if you can combine technical or AI competence with strong human-centered skills, it's going to increase your marketability. The market is leaning toward hiring hybrid positions. So people who have strong AI knowledge but can also think, refine, and polish what AI is doing. So make sure you're learning how to leverage it in your profession, whatever that is. And our final headline today supports us completely. Hiring managers just revealed the skills that will matter most in 2026. A new survey of more than a thousand hiring managers from resume templates.com ranked the most important hard and soft skills for next year.

Pete Newsome:

The top hard skills are software tools, data analysis, cybersecurity, QA, and of course, AI literacy. The top soft skills, communication, professionalism, resilience, and accountability. The translation is that companies want people who can think, adapt, analyze, and communicate all at once. And what's happening is that technical skills will still open the door for you, but it's the soft skills that are going to keep you there and will allow you to thrive in whatever it is you're doing. So as a candidate, if you're on the job market or as an employee, this balance is rapidly going from what companies prefer to what will be mandatory, what they're going to require. So pay attention to that.

Pete Newsome:

And if you have a weakness in one area or the other, work on it. And before we close, here's a fun fact today that I think this is a lot of fun. It but maybe we'll surprise no one. Christopher Walken, when he was a teenager, had a job as a lion tamer. Of course he did. I mean, who, if you were gonna think of someone who had a job like that, who better than Christopher Walken to be a lion lion tamer? So there you go. Those are your headlines and your fun fact for today. Thank you for listening. Please like, subscribe, share with anyone who you think might be interested. And as always, I welcome your feedback. Talk to you tomorrow.