🤔 Rethinking AI Workloads: 5 Remedies

Hi, People Leaders! 🎉 It’s Fun at Work Day, a great reminder to rethink AI workloads. If AI is meant to lighten the load, why does work feel heavier? Let’s redesign work so tech creates space—not stress.

On today’s agenda:

🤔 Rethinking AI workloads

🤓 eLearning project template

🌾 $3M agri-food training

📊 Tax season crunch

THE HR SPOTLIGHT

🤔 Rethinking AI Workloads: From Task Overload to Work Redesign

AI isn’t here to replace HR professionals — it’s here to reshape how work gets done so humans can focus on what matters. AI is fast,  but burnout is faster. Let’s fix that.

👀 The Situation: Smarter Tools, Same Workload?

In 2025, 94% of employers and 84% of employees reported using AI on the job, including for HR-related tasks like performance data and questions about policies — showing how deeply AI has entered work life already. Still, adoption varies across organizations, and many HR teams feel pressure to adopt tools on top of their existing duties rather than as a way to truly redistribute effort.

💡 What HR Can Do: Shift Work, Not Roles

1. Automate the repetitive, amplify the human: Use AI to free HR from admin so you can focus on people strategy, culture, and coaching.

2. Set guardrails, not just tools: Ensure AI use stays ethical, bias-checked, and transparent.

3. Track and optimize usage: Understand how employees actually use AI—shadow AI is more common than most orgs admit.

4. Redesign roles around outcomes, not tasks: Update job descriptions and KPIs to reflect what AI now handles vs. where human judgment still adds value. Less checkbox work, more impact.

5. Train managers to rebalance workloads: Managers need support to remove tasks—not pile on new expectations because “AI makes it faster.” Faster shouldn’t mean fuller calendars.

After all, it’s Fun at Work Day — time to celebrate smarter work, not harder work!

📍 From experimentation to purposeful AI use »

TOGETHER WITH ISPRING

🤓 A Free Template for Anyone Launching a Training Project

🛠️ States Revamp Workforce — DOL

• What’s unfolding: Labor and Education released guidance to help states align workforce and education plans for more effective training.

• Why it matters: HR should watch for new training partnerships and local hiring pipelines opening as states implement these updates.

• What’s unfolding: US workers’ financial stress is costing billions in lost productivity.

• Why it matters: HR can combat this with financial wellness programs, flexible pay, and support resources to boost focus and engagement.

• What’s unfolding: New York invests $3M to expand agri‑food worker training and credential programs.

• Why it matters: HR can leverage this to upskill workers and improve recruitment in industries with talent shortages.

WEEKLY GOODY

COMPLIANCE CORNER

• What’s unfolding:  The IRS enters 2026 tax season with fewer staff and new tax law changes, risking backlogs and delays.

• HR implications: HR should prepare employees for potential payroll or tax form issues and share guidance on deadlines to reduce confusion.

• What’s unfolding: Texas halted new H‑1B petitions for state agencies and public universities through May 2027.

• HR implications: HR should review visa compliance, adjust recruitment timelines, and plan alternatives for roles usually filled via H‑1B sponsorship.

🛡️ Maine Worker Privacy — NatLawReview

• What’s unfolding: Maine now requires employers to notify employees and applicants about electronic surveillance and provide annual written notice if monitoring continues.

• HR implications: HR should update handbooks and review monitoring tools to ensure compliance, while noting this signals a growing trend in employee privacy laws.

BREAKROOM

📬 Missed Wednesday’s issue on ‘Jan 31 Compliance Scramble’? Read it »