Career Briefs: Work Culture Upended, CEO & CFO Realignment, and The DOJ's DEI Guidance

“My friend recently joked, ‘I think I need a part-time job just to pay for all this back-to-school stuff.’ And honestly, she’s not far off. According to the National Retail Federation, the average American family with kids in elementary through high school is expected to spend around $858 this year on back-to-school essentials. From crayons to sports physicals to headphones with built-in speakers, those costs add up fast.

But it’s not just school supplies breaking the bank—job searching has become an expensive endeavor, too. I hear it all the time: Should I invest money to get more visibility and traction in my search—what my friend Virginia calls “splaving” (spending to save)? Or should I hold back, knowing income is tight and the bills keep piling up?

A recent article in the Wall Street Journal highlighted just how costly job hunting can be. Some people are spending $10,000 to $20,000 on upskilling, personal branding, and marketing themselves to land their next role.

That brings me to a question I get often from folks considering Briefcase Coach: ‘How do I know this investment will pay off? Will I get a real ROI?’

The honest answer? It’s tough to say. Any resume writing company or career coaching service that guarantees results is, frankly, selling you a lie.

What I can promise is that investing in yourself—through strategic branding, targeted messaging, and professional guidance—can significantly improve your chances and confidence. But just like any investment, there are no guarantees.

I think it’s fair to say that I—as the owner of an executive career branding firm—have a bias. I’ve personally seen how my clients have landed bigger, better roles faster because of the clarity they gained working with us and the strategic way we positioned their personal brand.

That being said, I also believe it’s crucial for every job seeker to do their due diligence. Research your options, ask questions, and choose a partner who truly understands your goals and communicates clearly about what they can—and can’t—deliver.

Feel free to reach out if you want to talk through your career goals and explore how to get the most value from your investment.

One Big Beautiful Bill: Deepens CEO & CFO Partnerships

CEOs and CFOs in almost every industry are quickly reevaluating how they work together, focusing on speeding up strategic decisions and strengthening their collaborative partnership.

President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed into law on July 4, includes one of the most aggressive supply-side tax provisions in recent memory. Businesses can now immediately expense domestic R&D costs, with this benefit retroactive to December 31, 2021, marking its reinstatement after a lapse (source: KPMG).

Beyond taxation, the bill is set to radically reshape healthcare delivery. It is projected to reduce federal healthcare spending by approximately $1 trillion through FY2034 by tightening eligibility requirements for government health programs, expanding administrative enrollment procedures, altering state access to Medicaid funding, and discontinuing ACA premium subsidies (PWC Healthcare Outlook).

For tax-exempt health systems, this creates significant challenges: navigating reimbursement uncertainties while reevaluating budgets and capital priorities in the face of deep funding cuts. Successfully sustaining care for vulnerable populations amid these changes will require agile, unified leadership that balances fiscal discipline with an unwavering commitment to community health.

Read more here: How new budget bill is reshaping CEO‑CFO collaboration.

New DOJ Guidance Challenges Traditional DEI Practices and ERGs

The Department of Justice’s recent guidance marks a significant tightening of oversight on diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, particularly for organizations reliant on federal funding. The DOJ’s guidance highlights four main types of illegal discrimination in the workplace:

1. Giving special treatment to someone because of their protected characteristics (like a scholarship fund for a specific racial group or hiring practices prioritizing candidates from “underrepresented groups”—are unlawful and discriminatory.)

2. Using indirect methods (called proxies) to unfairly target those same protected groups. (Follow up read: How Ai Uses Big Data To Discriminate)

3. Separating or isolating people based on these protected traits.

4. Running training programs that encourage discrimination or create a hostile work environment.

For example: It would be illegal for a company to promote only employees of a certain race, exclude others based on gender through indirect rules, separate workers into different groups because of their age, or hold training sessions that encourage negative stereotypes.

Read more here: New DOJ guidance on DEI includes a subtle warning on employee resource groups.

The Real Forces Reshaping Graduate Hiring

A new graduate jobs crisis is emerging, and its roots run deeper than AI. In The 2025 Graduate Jobs Crisis: It’s Not AI (which was included in Hung Lee’s recent Recruiting Brainfood newsletter), Anita Lettink outlines how degree oversupply, sectoral mismatches, and post-pandemic market corrections are transforming entry-level hiring. Employers are favoring skills-based selection, often requiring measurable experience even for junior roles, and relying more on informal networks to fill vacancies. 

Economic caution, US tax changes that constrain tech R&D, and AI-driven role evolution are intensifying the shift but according to ManpowerGroup’s Q3 2025 Employment Outlook, companies are pausing hiring for a variety of reasons, with automation playing a relatively minor role compared to other factors.

The silver lining? This structural reset in the graduate job market presents a strategic opening for organizations willing to redesign sourcing, evaluation, and onboarding to capture underutilized early-career talent.

Read more here: The 2025 Graduate Jobs Crisis: It’s Not AI.

From Divide to Drive: Unlocking Hidden Workforce Potential

The traditional ways of assessing and developing talent no longer suffice and ridding the experience gap means moving beyond traditional metrics like tenure and degrees to adopt a dynamic, skills-focused talent strategy. Research conducted by the World Economic Forum found that 61% of employers have raised experience requirements over the past three years. Additionally, the majority of entry-level positions now demand two to five years of prior experience.

Insights from Deloitte detail how reinventing sourcing by eliminating rigid filters, expanding paid internships and apprenticeships, and embedding experiential learning through strategic educational partnerships creates a more inclusive and agile talent pipeline equipped to meet evolving business demands.

Talent development should combine contextual skill-building with purposeful career pathways to cultivate judgment and adaptability, and harnessing AI to capture tacit knowledge and empower less-experienced talent accelerates readiness and unlocks new workforce potential. 

Read more here: Closing the experience gap.

The Art of Targeting Companies in 2025 - How To Find Your Dream Company

Whenever I’m speaking with someone in the midst of a job search, I always emphasize how crucial it is to create a targeted company list for success. Without a clear focus, job seekers can waste valuable time and energy on opportunities that don’t fit their goals. To detail exactly what I mean, I’ve built a “How To” list that compiles 15 innovative strategies designed to help job seekers compile a focused list of companies that perfectly align with their skills and career goals.

By leveraging advanced tools such as Crunchbase, ChatGPT, and LinkedIn, exploring venture capital portfolios, and conducting strategic informational interviews, these methods reveal hidden opportunities and identify rapidly growing employers often overlooked by conventional approaches. Embracing this strategic framework enables job seekers to maintain momentum, expand their professional network, and significantly enhance their prospects of securing their ideal position.

Read more here: How to Build a Target Company List for Your Job Search in 2025.

The 9-9-6 Work Schedule Threatens More Than Just Employee Wellness

As competition intensifies in the tech and AI sectors, some companies are revisiting demanding work models in pursuit of accelerated innovation and market dominance. The “9-9-6 work schedule,” requiring employees to work from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. six days a week, is emerging among AI startups in an effort to outpace global rivals. 

If you are considering a job with long hours, consider the impact on your health and relationships. A large body of research shows that more time at your desk does not actually mean more output. A British study published in 2019 shows that employees who put in more than 11-hour workdays are 67% more likely to have a heart attack.

Read more here: The ‘9-9-6 Work Schedule’ Could Be Coming To Your Workplace Soon.

Investing in People Is Today’s Ultimate Business Advantage

In an era defined by relentless change, talent development emerges as a strategic imperative that decisively shapes organizational resilience and growth. Maria Eleonora Bailey, experienced in Learning & Development, Organizational Development, and Change Management,  emphasizes that embedding learning initiatives within core business objectives transforms workforce capabilities into a powerful engine for innovation, retention, and agility. Companies that align skill-building with critical business needs unlock measurable outcomes, while cultivating managerial excellence multiplies team impact. As the half-life of skills diminishes, fostering learning agility through a culture of continuous curiosity, experimentation, and feedback becomes indispensable. This positions talent development not merely as HR’s responsibility but as a catalyst for sustained competitive advantage.

Read more here: Why Talent Development is the New Competitive Advantage.

NEW: The Triangle Talent Brief

Have you heard?? I’m launching a brand-new newsletter focused entirely on the job market in the Research Triangle.

The landscape in the Triangle is shifting fast. Federal funding cuts have hit hard, and explosive population growth means more competition for fewer roles. 

That’s why I’m excited to introduce you to the The Triangle Talent Brief: an all-inclusive update filled with timely insights and news, key trends, and what it all means for job seekers and employers alike.

Whether you’re actively searching or just keeping an eye on the market, The Triangle Talent Brief can be your go-to for updates and news in the local job market.