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- Company offering free college degrees
Company offering free college degrees
PLUS: HUGE layoff numbers
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Read time: 1.5 minutes
What’s up, office partiers?! Got some quick hits for y’all today.
PARTY PLAN 🎉
🎓 Best Buy launches free degrees for all employees
🤝 Can AI improve the quality of hires?
❌ Latest in layoffs
But first, MEMES!
MEME OF THE DAY
“Hey, I noticed your Teams status is yellow. Just wanted to make sure you’re still online.”
— The Random Recruiter (@randomrecruiter)
8:33 PM • Feb 18, 2025
Benefits
Best Buy offers free degrees for all employees
Best Buy is expanding its education benefits to offer no-debt, no-cost pathways to college degrees for all full- and part-time employees in the U.S, according to the company’s announcement last week.
The consumer electronics company partnered with Strayer University, which has a “Degrees@Work” program that includes coursework for certificates or associate, bachelor’s or master’s degrees.
“At Best Buy, we believe that fostering continuous learning not only enhances personal and professional growth but also contributes to an inclusive and thriving workplace where everyone can succeed.”
The benefits will be available to all employees from day one of their employment. Best Buy has offered tuition discounts and reduced fees for more than a decade, but the expansion is intended to help more employees access education and develop skills.
Free college tuition or education programs have become increasingly common benefits in the retail space especially. For example, Love’s Travel Stops partnered with Guild’s “Fuel Your Growth” program, offering certifications and degree programs to full-time and part-time employees in the U.S. who are employed for at least 30 days. Love’s employees can also access career services, coaching support and other resources through the platform.
AI
Can AI really improve the quality of new hires?
A slower job market means more recruiters will focus on the quality of the hire, in reaction to the “quick fills” of 2021 and 2022, according to LinkedIn.
Recruiters are continuing to test and experiment with artificial intelligence tools — and while many recruiters surveyed agree that AI has improved hiring efficiency, far less agreed that it has increased the quality of hires.
Experimenting with AI has also moved recruiters to gain new skills and focus more intently on the ones that matter. According to data pulled from paid job posts on the site, demands for recruiters with relationship development skills saw a 54x increase year over year.
“Today’s urgency around quality of hire is also a course correction. During the Great Reshuffle of 2021 and 2022, many employers over-indexed on speed, prioritizing quick fills over thoughtful decisions.
With hiring slowing, the pendulum is swinging back toward quality. Every hire must count — and that means prioritizing long-term value over short-term efficiency.”
Measuring quality of hire is no easy feat, but 61% of talent acquisition pros surveyed by LinkedIn said AI can improve how they do so. Another source interviewed by LinkedIn noted that AI tools can analyze candidate skills and potential and offer insights that may “go beyond resumes and conventional interviews.”
Layoffs
Latest in layoffs
The latest in layoffs from the last 4 weeks, according to MacroEdge. 👇
Bankrupt EV firm Nikola to cut around 1,000 jobs.
Trump Admin to fire hundreds of FEMA employees in latest job cuts.
IRS to lay off around 6,000 employees today (Feb 20), and another 9,000 in coming months, for a total of 20% of the IRS’ workforce.
Trump admin to cut DoD by about 8% - impacting around 70,000 civilian employees.
UnitedHealth Employees Claim The Company Is Offering Voluntary Layoff Packages For Up To 30,000 Workers Despite ‘Better-Than-Expected Profit’ In 2024.
United States Forest Service cuts thousands of jobs, over 3,400 impacted.
Nissan plans to reduce global production capacity by 20% and shed 9,000 jobs.
NASA to layoff around 1,800 employees.
Bezos’ Blue Orgin to layoff 1,400 employees.
The Department of Health and Human Services terminated 5,200 employees on Friday as RFK implements Trump’s cost reductions.
The U.S. Interior Department has laid off 2,300 employees as part of the Trump administration’s sweeping government job cuts. This includes around 800 staff from the Bureau of Land Management.
The Department of Veterans Affairs will layoff over 1,000 employees in response to a White House mandate aimed at reducing government staff.
Waste Management to eliminate 5,000 jobs by reducing physical laborers.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will layoff 1,300 employees due to Trump cuts.
Sports car manufacturer Porsche said it will axe 1,900 jobs after sales slumped in China and amid a costly debacle with electric vehicles.
The US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) plans to discharge 50% of its workforce, or about 5,000 employees.
Job cuts surge as federal layoffs take effect, corporate bankruptcies hit 14-year high.
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