The Chad & Cheese Podcast
Everything people and workforce—recruiting, marketing, technology, talent management, and workforce economics—delivered with biting sarcasm and unapologetic snark. Industry misfits Chad Sowash and Joel Cheesman bring their no-holds-barred opinions to dissect news, trends, and the occasional dumpster fire. If you’re a hiring company, staffing firm, or vendor looking for insights (and a thick skin), these two won’t just tell you what’s happening—they’ll tell you why you’re probably doing it wrong. Buckle up, buttercup.
Vegas Chaos Unleashed
Live from the Gem booth in Vegas at Unleash, the boys throw together one mess-of-a-show, featuring everything from Warren Buffett to StackOne raising big cash to confusing Appcast with Recruitics to bashing ZipRecuiter. Hell, Indeed makes it in, and they weren't even in the show notes. It's a sleep deprived mess, but a good time nonetheless. We promise to make up for it next week.
Shredded: Humly, Future Education, Appcast, Skillvue, Upwork, BrandLink, StackOne and More
The Shred is a weekly roundup of what’s making headlines in the world of employment. The Shred is brought to you today by Jobcase.
The Human Hiring Touch with Terry Baker
In this episode of The Chad & Cheese Podcast, Terry Baker, CEO at Daxtra, dishes on how AI is shaking up recruitment like a caffeinated barista on a Monday morning. With 23 years of AI street cred, he insists AI’s only as good as the data it’s fed—garbage in, garbage out, folks—while preaching the gospel of keeping hiring human, because no one wants a robot therapist when the job hunt gets rough. The convo takes a wild turn through resume validation (think CSI: LinkedIn Edition), with Baker warning that AI-generated CVs are sneakier than a cat burglar in a yar...
Rippling v Deel: Over the Top
In this episode of The Chad and Cheese Podcast, the gang serves up a spicy stew of economic banter and corporate shenanigans, with a side of sports and social commentary.
They dive into the job market's wild rollercoaster, where small businesses are clinging on for dear life, while cheering Wrexham’s sports glow-up like it’s the underdog story of the century.
The aging workforce gets a sympathetic nod as they dodge AI overlords and corporate curveballs, and the hosts toss in some cheeky political jabs about Canada-U.S. relations—because why not?
Meanwhil...
Shredded: Deel, Rippling, TeamOhana, WorkBuzz, Toku, Liquifi, Survale and More
The Shred is a weekly roundup of what’s making headlines in the world of employment. The Shred is brought to you today by Jobcase.
Spain Listens to Reagan
In this episode, the boys dive into the great European vacation boycott of the U.S.—turns out, Trump’s tariff tantrums and border shenanigans have Europeans swapping the Grand Canyon for grandma’s couch in Lisbon.
They cackle over the diplomatic dumpster fire sparked by recent political stunts, then pivot to Spain’s Job&Talent, the staffing hotshot that’s raking in cash like it’s a piñata party. The platform’s plotting a global takeover with AI so smart it could probably match you with your dream job and your soulmate.
Tariffs: Small Business Impact with Beth Benike
In this episode of The Chad & Cheese Podcast, hosts Joel Cheesman and Chad Sowash welcome Beth Benike, CEO of Busy Baby, a baby product company featured on Shark Tank and NPR’s How I Built This. Benike, a former Army veteran and mother, shares the story of Busy Baby, which started with a silicone placemat that suctions to surfaces and tethers toys to keep them off the ground.
Now offering eight interchangeable products, the company faces a crisis due to new U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports, with $158,000 of inventory stuck in China and ta...
Indeed Drops, Big Tech Flops and the AI War Machine Pops
In this episode of The Chad & Cheese Podcast, hosts Joel Cheesman, Chad Sowash, and J.T. O'Donnell serve up a spicy mix of summer vibes, NFL draft hot takes, and enough industry tea to fill a Chipotle burrito bowl. They’re hyped about the Pro Voice Talent Agency launch, a slick new gig for white-collar pros, and cackle over Chipotle’s bold leap into Mexico—because nothing screams “¡Olé!” like guac south of the border. But hold the salsa, because the real drama unfolds with Indeed and ZipRecruiter’s legal cage match, proving job boards are scrappier than a reality TV reu...
Shredded: Vizzy, PeopleForce, Indeed, Darwinbox, Adecco Group, HelloSky, Salsa, and More
The Shred is a weekly roundup of what’s making headlines in the world of employment. The Shred is brought to you today by Jobcase.
It's LinkedIn's World ... with Alex Fourlis
In this episode of the Chad and Cheese Podcast, hosts Joel Cheesman and Chad Sowash rope in Alex Fourlis, the big cheese (sorry, Joel) at Veritone Hire, for a wild ride through the job market’s circus. Fourlis, with 25+ years of recruitment street cred, brags about Veritone slinging over a million jobs a month worldwide—like a digital paperboy on steroids.
The trio dives into the chaos: hiring’s been dropping faster than a bad Tinder date for two years, automation and programmatic advertising are the cool kids Enterprises can’t stop swiping right on, and A...
Indeed’s Midlife Crisis
On this episode of The Chad and Cheese Podcast, our hosts sling wit and wisdom faster than paintballs at a corporate team-building fiasco, dreaming up a tournament that’d make HR - and Cheesman - cry.
Topics are spicy with the soap opera at Deel, where legal drama’s juicier than a reality TV reunion. Plus, they geek out over Indeed’s search boxes making a comeback and some fancy new premium service—because job hunting needed more flair.
Switching gears, they clown on Indeed’s latest job-seeker gadgets, throw shad...
Shredded: Jobandtalent, Rippling, Deel, Linkedin, HireRight, ClearChecks, OnlyFans & More
The Shred is a weekly roundup of what’s making headlines in the world of employment. The Shred is brought to you today by Jobcase.
Back To the Future with Jeff Taylor
In this episode of The Chad & Cheese Podcast, Jeff Taylor, the nutty professor behind Monster.com, crashes the mic to dish on job boards, entrepreneurial chaos, and why the hiring game’s more bonkers than a squirrel on espresso.
He takes us on a nostalgia trip through Monster’s heyday, chuckling at how Indeed swooped in like a job-posting ninja and the LinkedIn deal hit like a plot twist in a bad rom-com—spoiler: LinkedIn won. Taylor’s saga is a hoot: from birthing Monster, to getting a decade-long MBA beatdown from Ray Dalio at Bridg...
Rippling Raises while Deel Staff Exits
This week on HR’s most dangerous podcast, things get wild with updates from the espionage-soaked saga between Rippling and Deel — Rippling needs more cash and Deel loses top talent.
But wait, there's more:
China and Dave Chappelle’s next-level tariff trolling
North Korean IT infiltrations at Fortune 500 companies? That’s right — the hackers are already inside the house.
💥 And in the middle of it all? A 23 years-old CEO named Jasper Carmichael Jack, an AI startup called Artisan, and a Shopify world where your jo...
Shredded: Workday, Shopify, Dosen.io, Deel, Rippling, Artisan, Linkedin & More
The Shred is a weekly roundup of what’s making headlines in the world of employment. The Shred is brought to you today by Jobcase.
EUROPE: Salesforce Slowly Eating Adecco’s Lunch
The Chad and Cheese Podcast Does Europe mixes humor with sharp analysis on Europe’s evolving landscape. The episode kicks off with light banter before diving into Tesla’s struggles in Europe, where sales have plummeted—down 41.1% in France and 55.3% in Sweden—due to Elon Musk’s anti-EU stance and Trump’s tariffs. These tariffs also threaten U.S. wineries and tourism, prompting travel warnings from Portugal. Meanwhile, European defense strategies are shifting, with Macron pushing for rearmament, Germany increasing military spending, and tensions rising over Greenland’s NATO position, signaling Europe’s move away from U.S. dependence.
I...
Deel Spy Games Extended Cut
Hope you like it a little light and a little dark! This week's episode kicks off with some casual fashion talk before taking a sharp turn into the biggest April Fool’s joke that wasn’t—Val Kilmer’s passing. The hosts pay tribute to his legendary roles before diving into politics, where Cory Booker’s marathon filibuster gets mixed reactions: Mo is impressed, Chad shrugs it off like a casual jog, and Joel speculates he’s gunning for the Democratic throne while Gavin Newsom plays nice with conservatives.
Then, things get spicy with a corporate...
Shredded: LinkedIn, Craigslist, Ribbon, All Gravy, Ethos, Marit Health, Qneiform & More
The Shred is a weekly roundup of what’s making headlines in the world of employment. The Shred is brought to you today by Jobcase.
Return to Office is BS with Dr. Jessica Kriegel
In this riotous episode of The Chad & Cheese Podcast, the boys drag Dr. Jessica Kriegel, Culture Partners’ Chief Strategy Officer, into the clown car of post-COVID work woes. They tackle the return-to-office (RTO) brouhaha like it’s a bad slapstick routine—is it a heroic charge back to the water cooler, or are we all just pratfalling into 2019 with pants that don’t fit anymore?
Dr. Kriegel’s swinging the “adapt or flop” hammer, dubbing RTO a dusty VHS tape in a streaming world. The gang cackles over how Gen Z’s “work-from-bed” energy is giving Boomer bos...
Indeed Tanks & Starbucks Forces Joy
In the latest episode of The Chad & Cheese Podcast, hosts Joel Cheesman and Chad Sowash dive into a mix of serious industry shifts and quirky tangents. They unpack Indeed’s traffic decline—down due to a 10% drop in job postings and competition from platforms like LinkedIn—while noting its erratic market moves and a pivot to online courses that’s missing the mark with tech candidates.
History lesson alert! The duo traces job search evolution from simple boards to AI-driven tools, spotlighting generative AI’s potential to revolutionize applications despite hurdles like registration barriers.
<...
Shredded: LinkedIn, Jolly, Lumber, Grayscale, Greenhouse, PeopleIX, Google Career Dreamer & More
The Shred is a weekly roundup of what’s making headlines in the world of employment. The Shred is brought to you today by Jobcase.
Personal Branding for Recruiters with Orlando Haynes
Live from RecFest USA, The Chad & Cheese Podcast welcomes Orlando Haynes, North American talent acquisition lead at Mosaic. Orlando breaks down why personal branding is a game-changer for recruiters, offering practical tips on leveraging LinkedIn and navigating job searches after layoffs.
He also shares how a strong personal brand can transform employees into powerful company ambassadors, boosting recruitment and client attraction.
Catch this episode for smart strategies in today’s job market—listen now!
Deel & Rippling Spy Games
This week, Chad, Joel, and Emi sink their teeth into a juicy HR tech showdown: Rippling’s suing Deel, alleging an espionage plot. Rippling accused Deel of planting Irishman Keith O’Brien in its Dublin office, where he allegedly ran 6,000 Slack searches for trade secrets—busted by a fake “#d-defectors” Slack channel. Things escalated when O’Brien trashed his phone during a court-ordered seizure on March 19. Deel’s firing back, denying it all and pointing to Rippling’s own baggage, like alleged Russian sanctions violations.
ZipRecruiter’s in the spotlight—named a Fast Company innovator, dropping...
Shredded: Deel, Rippling, ZipRecruiter, iCIMS, Factorial, LinkedIn, Optimhire, Klarna & More
The Shred is a weekly roundup of what’s making headlines in the world of employment. The Shred is brought to you today by Jobcase.
EUROPE: Regulation, Randstad, and a Tech Rumble
In this episode of The Chad and Cheese Podcast Does Europe, hosts Chad Sowash, Joel Cheesman, and the suavely named Lieven Van Nieuwenhuyze plunge headfirst into Europe’s recruitment jungle with all the grace of a tipsy tourist.
They kick things off with a chuckle-fest intro—because who doesn’t love a podcast that roasts itself?—before Chad regales us with tales of cultural clashes, fresh from his Champions League pilgrimage (think soccer, not superheroes). The trio then pivots faster than a Google algorithm to dissect JobIndex’s legal tango with the tech giant, sparking a...
The Power of Diversity with Paige Elliott
Live from the Shaker Green Room at RecFest USA, The Chad & Cheese Podcast welcomes Paige Elliott, Global Employer Brand Manager at Veeam Software. Paige shares why authentic diversity stories are critical to employer branding and how aligning internal culture with external messaging attracts talent.
She offers practical tips on using video, written content, and audio to amplify diverse voices and build a sense of belonging. The conversation also delves into the growing scrutiny of DE&I commitments, strategic partnerships with organizations like Out & Equal and Women in Tech, and the importance of pay transparency...
Deel’s Cash Cannon vs. Remote’s Slingshot
In this week’s episode of The Chad & Cheese Podcast, hosts Joel Cheesman, Chad Sowash, and career expert J.T. O'Donnell unpack a whirlwind of industry news with their signature wisdom and wit. Kicking things off, they celebrate all-things Chicken Cock whiskey, Keith Sonderling's confirmation at the DOL, cry a little over layoff stories on TikTok and then dive into Remote’s launch of Recruit, a new hiring tool billed as a breakthrough for sourcing global talent, though some question its lack of features despite the glossy promo video, sparking a debate on its real impact.
Shredded: Deel, iCIMS, ZipRecruiter, Fiverr, Remote, Carv, Google, Recrubo & More
The Shred is a weekly roundup of what’s making headlines in the world of employment. The Shred is brought to you today by Jobcase.
Immigration Game: Trump 2.0 Insights and Impacts
The Chad & Cheese Podcast looks to tackle immigration now that Trump is back in the Oval Office, roping in Wharton's Dr. Zeke Hernandez and VanHack's Ilya Brodsky for a wild ride through the immigration circus at home and abroad.
They kick things off with the U.S., where the immigration system’s stuck in a time warp—deportations are up, sure, but it’s the same old song and dance despite politicians flapping their gums like over-caffeinated auctioneers. Globally, tech talent’s hotter than a jalapeño in a microwave, yet countries like Canada are tipto...
A New Era for Employer Branding with Ashten Fizer
Live from the Shaker Green Room at RecFest USA, Chad & Cheese chat with Ashten Fizer, a dynamic talent brand creator, who brings fresh insights on employer branding to the table.
What’s Inside:
✅ The real deal on why authenticity beats overproduced videos in today's branding world.
✅ How effective branding needs cross-department collaboration and creative design systems.
✅ Surprising insights into global recruitment strategies (Hint: LinkedIn isn’t always the answer!).
✅ How a genuine DEI approach can broaden talent pools and drive innovation.
If you’re looking to craft a brand that s...
LinkedIn Has a Serious Gen Z Problem
In this episode of The Chad & Cheese Podcast, hosts Joel and Maureen trade barbs and insights like a comedy duo on a caffeine bender before diving into heavier stuff like mental health in a world gone wacky, in addition to the latest news around the world of work.
In a rollercoaster of a month, U.S. companies slammed the brakes on hiring, with ADP’s February private payrolls report showing a measly 77,000 jobs added—half of what the eggheads predicted and a steep drop from January’s beefy 186,000. Meanwhile, Employ snatched up Pillar, an interv...
Shredded: Workday, Employ, ADP, Google, HeyMilo, Alta, Darwinbox, Helios, HiBob & More
The Shred is a weekly roundup of what’s making headlines in the world of employment. The Shred is brought to you today by Jobcase.
2025 Vision Report for Talent
In this episode of The Chad & Cheese Podcast, hosts Joel Cheesman and Chad Sowash team up with the marketing maestro, Gina Alioto from Shaker Recruitment Marketing, to dive into the wild world of experiential marketing. They chat about how this approach can turn brand experiences into something you'd remember even if you had the memory of a goldfish, by tickling all your senses.
Gina drops some knowledge bombs on why employer branding feels like it's stuck in the '90s compared to today's marketing, and she highlights the importance of Shaker's Vision Report. They...
Indeed Lifts Walled Garden
Buckle up, job nerds—Chad Sowash and Joel Cheesman are back with J.T. O'Donnell, serving up the week’s employment chaos with a side of snark. Joann’s 800 fabric havens are kaput after 80 years—no buyer, 19,000 pink slips.
DOGE is slashing like it’s Black Friday: 75,000 “voluntary” goodbyes, 1,000 at Veterans Affairs, 1,300 at Energy, 700 at the CDC—pundits say the total could top 100K, while Blue Origin (1,000) and Starbucks (1,100) join the layoff party, and Polywork’s a December corpse.
Buy or Sell: Mercor’s 21-year-old Thiel babies nabbed $100M, hit a $2B valuation...
Shredded: ZipRecruiter, Robert Half, Adecco, AMS, Perfect, Mercor, Loxo, Polywork & More
The Shred is a weekly roundup of what’s making headlines in the world of employment. The Shred is brought to you today by Jobcase.
AI and The Future of Talent with Donald Knight
This week on The Chad & Cheese Podcast, we’re joined by Donald Knight, the People & Culture mastermind from Warner Bros. Discovery. We talk about:
💰 The 2022 job market sequel—spoiler: execs are playing musical chairs, and salaries are getting wild.
🤖 AI panic in HR—why some CHROs are still clutching their pearls while others are stealing all the talent.
🎨 Recruiting as an art form—because if you’re not painting with AI yet, you’re about to get left in the dust.
🎭 Hollywood vs. The Machines—yes, AI can spit out a screenplay, but...
Firing Squad: Candidly's Hannah Peet
In this episode, the boys chat with Hannah Peet, the co-founder of Candidly, an ATS so generic it's called "white-label." Hannah waxes poetic about her grand adventure in HR tech, explaining how Candidly plans to make hiring as simple as a kindergarten art project for SMBs. They dive into the thrilling world of partnerships and the start-ups focus on going to market on the backs of more established companies.
What else? How about AI in candidate matching and don't forget the white-label magic? They also tackle the competitive landscape, where Candidly is apparently David...
Netflix Expands, Klarna Fakes, and Boomers RTO
Ready for a ride through the latest workplace shake-ups? Well, welcome to another episode of Workplace Woes & Corporate Chaos with Chad & Cheese, joined this week by Emi Beredugo!
We kick off with JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon, who’s getting caught saying the quiet part out loud. Leaked audio catches him roasting work-from-home setups - the squad weighs in on issues, like why workers are back on-site and startups might be the last hope for remote dreams.
We unravel Klarna’s AI hype—CEO claims chatbots axed 700 jobs, but the facts...
Shredded: HiBob, UpWork, Fiverr, Vetty, HowNow, Employment Hero & More
The Shred is a weekly roundup of what’s making headlines in the world of employment. The Shred is brought to you today by Jobcase.
The Shifting Sands of DEI with Torin Ellis
Live from the Shaker Green Room at RecFest USA, Torin Ellis sits down with Chad & Cheese to tackle the evolving landscape of diversity and inclusion (D&I). As some organizations retreat under external pressures, Torin delivers a wake-up call—now is not the time to step back. He challenges leaders to honor their commitments, exposes the political forces shaping D&I strategies, and reminds us that real progress demands intention. With 2025 on the horizon, he highlights the companies still doing the work and calls on individuals—especially those with privilege—to step up.