Shredded: LinkUp, Robert Half, Lyft, Ahron, Personio, TechWolf, LinkedIn, & More

0:00Hide your kids, lock the doors. You're listening to HR's most dangerous podcast, Chad Sowash and Joel Cheesman. Hey kids, it's Cole Cheesman and I'm bringing you The Shred for the second week of October 2026. The Shred is a weekly roundup of what's making headlines in the world of employment.

0:24And now to the news in no particular order. Data from LinkUp indicates rising job openings across most U.S. regions and sectors in September. Based on this labor demand, LinkUp forecasts a net gain of 135 ,000 jobs for September, exceeding the consensus estimate of 90 ,000 and anticipates even stronger job growth in October. Another one. Robert Half's 2027 Salary Guide reveals 57 % of employers offer higher than planned starting pay to secure specialized talent, particularly for AI skills. U.S. salaries are projected to grow by an average of 1.9%, with compensation, transparency, and flexible work schedules key to attracting candidates.

1:11Another one. Lyft agreed to a$272.5 million settlement with California and three cities to resolve allegations of driver misclassification and wage violations between 2016 and 2020. Drivers will receive at least$237 million. State and city officials continue similar litigation against Uber. Another one. Munich-based HR tech startup Aron raised 2.2 million euro in a funding round led by Cusp Capital. The company will use the capital to scale its AI agent-based platform across existing enterprise HR software and support its international expansion. Another one. Personio has acquired Berlin-based spend management platform Circula to unify HR, payroll, expenses, and benefits into a single platform.

2:03Building on an existing partnership, the deal integrates Circula's spend management features into Personio's workforce offerings. Circula will now operate as Circula by Personio. Another one. SAP announced an agreement to acquire Belgian AI startup TechWolf to integrate its skills context graph into SAP success factors. The acquisition aims to enhance HR agents like Julie with detailed employee work data, improving token efficiency and lowering operational costs for talent management and workforce planning. After 18 years at LinkedIn, including six as CEO, Ryan Roslonsky announced his departure.

2:45His decision was driven by a requirement to work full time at Microsoft's Redmond headquarters, choosing instead to remain in the Bay Area. He will advise Microsoft through year-end. Be sure to tune in to the weekly show for this and more news and commentary from the world of recruiting. Cheeseman, out.

3:07Adios, turd nuggets.