Mike welcomes talent acquisition consultant and friend Laura Gassman, who is well-known for rage-quitting her cushy corporate job two years ago to launch her own fractional TA consulting and RPO business. The conversation immediately dives into the current recruiting breakdown and the profound instability shaking the industry to its core.

Mike and Laura explore the massive exodus of recruiters, discussing how years of companies cutting L&D budgets have created a crisis where no new, properly trained talent is entering the field. They predict a chaotic future where companies will either rely entirely on high-cost boutique RPO models or revert to a losing cycle of untrained, inexpensive internal hires. This "merry-go-round of layoffs" is causing both experienced and junior talent to leave the profession for good.

The two then shift to the daily frustrations faced by those still in the fight, tearing apart the toxic LinkedIn debate that falsely pits "headhunters" against "recruiters." Laura argues that this distinction is unnecessary—a good recruiter must be a hybrid, expertly blending tech tools for efficiency with essential, irreplaceable human relationship-building skills. This lack of respect for the recruiting function is perfectly captured in Laura's all-time nightmare story: an executive team that used a final-round candidate as a personal chauffeur for six hours—with the CEO's dog in the car—illustrating the kind of out-of-script chaos that drives burnout.

It’s an honest, funny, and deeply relatable conversation that speaks directly to recruiters' shared experience of being under-resourced and undervalued. The episode concludes with a look at how to cope in this volatile environment, culminating in Laura's unusual but effective method for protecting her peace: disassociating from social media and reality by reading fantasy novels about dragons.

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#10 - Laura Gassman: The Battle for Respect, Why Managers Don't Trust Recruiters