Elvis Eckardt Recruitment
@elviseckardtrec.bsky.social
🔵 Entrepreneur & Founder | Robin Hood meets Recruitment | Fractional TA Leader | Moonshot | Father to a cheeky 🐒 | Extended Workbench for the Big 4 | SatCom & New Space Hiring 🦄 | Helping to make the World Wireless 🔵
His message to CEOs: step back, talk to each other, and be honest about the risks before it’s too late.
December 19, 2025 at 12:53 PM
His message to CEOs: step back, talk to each other, and be honest about the risks before it’s too late.
Bengio’s path forward: shift public opinion; build AI that is safe by construction (his Law Zero effort); require liability and independent model evaluations; and push governments into verifiable international treaties.
December 19, 2025 at 12:53 PM
Bengio’s path forward: shift public opinion; build AI that is safe by construction (his Law Zero effort); require liability and independent model evaluations; and push governments into verifiable international treaties.
He argues that the current “unhealthy race”, corporate and geopolitical forces drive it into survival mode, chasing breakthroughs while bolting safety on as an afterthought. The assumption that engineers can simply “patch” superintelligent systems later is, he says, an illusion.
December 19, 2025 at 12:53 PM
He argues that the current “unhealthy race”, corporate and geopolitical forces drive it into survival mode, chasing breakthroughs while bolting safety on as an afterthought. The assumption that engineers can simply “patch” superintelligent systems later is, he says, an illusion.
But he also warns of catastrophic risks: AI-assisted biological and chemical weapons, cyber-attacks already happening, and theoretical “mirror life” pathogens immune to human biology.
December 19, 2025 at 12:53 PM
But he also warns of catastrophic risks: AI-assisted biological and chemical weapons, cyber-attacks already happening, and theoretical “mirror life” pathogens immune to human biology.
Bengio flags power concentration as the most imminent threat. A single company or nation could rapidly achieve economic or military dominance.
December 19, 2025 at 12:53 PM
Bengio flags power concentration as the most imminent threat. A single company or nation could rapidly achieve economic or military dominance.
They internalise human drives for self-preservation and control, and are already showing emergent behaviours such as resisting shutdown, deception, and bypassing safety instructions. As intelligence increases, misalignment worsens, not improves.
December 19, 2025 at 12:53 PM
They internalise human drives for self-preservation and control, and are already showing emergent behaviours such as resisting shutdown, deception, and bypassing safety instructions. As intelligence increases, misalignment worsens, not improves.
His shift wasn’t abstract: he describes an emotional turning point after ChatGPT, realising his own children might not live in a democracy 20 years from now if AI development continues unchecked.
His warning is stark: today’s AI systems are grown, not programmed.
His warning is stark: today’s AI systems are grown, not programmed.
December 19, 2025 at 12:53 PM
His shift wasn’t abstract: he describes an emotional turning point after ChatGPT, realising his own children might not live in a democracy 20 years from now if AI development continues unchecked.
His warning is stark: today’s AI systems are grown, not programmed.
His warning is stark: today’s AI systems are grown, not programmed.
The boundary between “personal view” and “professional risk” is now entirely employer-defined, and moving fast.
December 19, 2025 at 11:45 AM
The boundary between “personal view” and “professional risk” is now entirely employer-defined, and moving fast.
Lawsuits are already mounting from teachers, professors and civil servants terminated over political posts.
What’s emerging is a two-fold trend: companies retreating from public political stances, while simultaneously expanding private surveillance of staff speech.
What’s emerging is a two-fold trend: companies retreating from public political stances, while simultaneously expanding private surveillance of staff speech.
December 19, 2025 at 11:45 AM
Lawsuits are already mounting from teachers, professors and civil servants terminated over political posts.
What’s emerging is a two-fold trend: companies retreating from public political stances, while simultaneously expanding private surveillance of staff speech.
What’s emerging is a two-fold trend: companies retreating from public political stances, while simultaneously expanding private surveillance of staff speech.
Public-sector workers are in a grey zone.
They have more First Amendment protection, but only if their comments relate to matters of public concern and don’t disrupt the workplace.
They have more First Amendment protection, but only if their comments relate to matters of public concern and don’t disrupt the workplace.
December 19, 2025 at 11:45 AM
Public-sector workers are in a grey zone.
They have more First Amendment protection, but only if their comments relate to matters of public concern and don’t disrupt the workplace.
They have more First Amendment protection, but only if their comments relate to matters of public concern and don’t disrupt the workplace.
Private-sector workers in the US have almost no free-speech rights at work; “at-will” employment means you can be dismissed for posts made off-hours, on personal accounts, and unrelated to your job.
The First Amendment protects employers, not employees.
The First Amendment protects employers, not employees.
December 19, 2025 at 11:45 AM
Private-sector workers in the US have almost no free-speech rights at work; “at-will” employment means you can be dismissed for posts made off-hours, on personal accounts, and unrelated to your job.
The First Amendment protects employers, not employees.
The First Amendment protects employers, not employees.
HR leaders admit privately: there is no such thing as a private social feed anymore.
Some firms have full-time staff tracking employee activity, a shift fuelled by fear of online backlash and political flashpoints.
The legal protections are thin.
Some firms have full-time staff tracking employee activity, a shift fuelled by fear of online backlash and political flashpoints.
The legal protections are thin.
December 19, 2025 at 11:45 AM
HR leaders admit privately: there is no such thing as a private social feed anymore.
Some firms have full-time staff tracking employee activity, a shift fuelled by fear of online backlash and political flashpoints.
The legal protections are thin.
Some firms have full-time staff tracking employee activity, a shift fuelled by fear of online backlash and political flashpoints.
The legal protections are thin.
More than 600 workers across airlines, tech firms, universities and retailers have faced discipline. Even seemingly tame posts are being flagged as reputational risk.
Companies are now tightening social media policies and increasing monitoring of staff accounts.
Companies are now tightening social media policies and increasing monitoring of staff accounts.
December 19, 2025 at 11:45 AM
More than 600 workers across airlines, tech firms, universities and retailers have faced discipline. Even seemingly tame posts are being flagged as reputational risk.
Companies are now tightening social media policies and increasing monitoring of staff accounts.
Companies are now tightening social media policies and increasing monitoring of staff accounts.
Combined with DRP, 72% of 2025 retirements arrive in two lumps. The system is already strained.
The question isn’t whether more delays emerge; it’s how deeply federal retirees will feel the impact in 2026.
The question isn’t whether more delays emerge; it’s how deeply federal retirees will feel the impact in 2026.
December 19, 2025 at 11:43 AM
Combined with DRP, 72% of 2025 retirements arrive in two lumps. The system is already strained.
The question isn’t whether more delays emerge; it’s how deeply federal retirees will feel the impact in 2026.
The question isn’t whether more delays emerge; it’s how deeply federal retirees will feel the impact in 2026.
Auto-populated errors, resubmissions and login issues are colliding with once-in-a-generation case volumes.
Digital cases are processed twice as fast as paper, but most applications are still paper-based.
A second retirement spike hits this month, the annual December wave.
Digital cases are processed twice as fast as paper, but most applications are still paper-based.
A second retirement spike hits this month, the annual December wave.
December 19, 2025 at 11:43 AM
Auto-populated errors, resubmissions and login issues are colliding with once-in-a-generation case volumes.
Digital cases are processed twice as fast as paper, but most applications are still paper-based.
A second retirement spike hits this month, the annual December wave.
Digital cases are processed twice as fast as paper, but most applications are still paper-based.
A second retirement spike hits this month, the annual December wave.
“We’re in administrative limbo,” said one IRS retiree.
OPM’s modernisation push, the new Online Retirement Application (ORA), is a step forward, but the timing is brutal.
OPM’s modernisation push, the new Online Retirement Application (ORA), is a step forward, but the timing is brutal.
December 19, 2025 at 11:43 AM
“We’re in administrative limbo,” said one IRS retiree.
OPM’s modernisation push, the new Online Retirement Application (ORA), is a step forward, but the timing is brutal.
OPM’s modernisation push, the new Online Retirement Application (ORA), is a step forward, but the timing is brutal.
Agency HR offices are in crisis. Many were understaffed long before 2025; now HR employees themselves have left via DRP and RIFs, creating cascading bottlenecks.
Retirees report unanswered emails, lost files, contradictory guidance and months without income.
Retirees report unanswered emails, lost files, contradictory guidance and months without income.
December 19, 2025 at 11:43 AM
Agency HR offices are in crisis. Many were understaffed long before 2025; now HR employees themselves have left via DRP and RIFs, creating cascading bottlenecks.
Retirees report unanswered emails, lost files, contradictory guidance and months without income.
Retirees report unanswered emails, lost files, contradictory guidance and months without income.
OPM’s backlog has exploded: ~48,000 cases on hand vs. a target of 13,000. Processing times have stretched to 73–79 days. Some retirees from 2024 are still awaiting final adjudication. Interim annuities, meant to provide short-term financial stability, are delayed for thousands.
December 19, 2025 at 11:43 AM
OPM’s backlog has exploded: ~48,000 cases on hand vs. a target of 13,000. Processing times have stretched to 73–79 days. Some retirees from 2024 are still awaiting final adjudication. Interim annuities, meant to provide short-term financial stability, are delayed for thousands.
The Deferred Resignation Programme (DRP), taken by 154,000 employees, has triggered the largest retirement surge in at least 25 years.
Many retirees are still waiting for pay, paperwork or even confirmation that their files haven’t been lost.
Many retirees are still waiting for pay, paperwork or even confirmation that their files haven’t been lost.
December 19, 2025 at 11:43 AM
The Deferred Resignation Programme (DRP), taken by 154,000 employees, has triggered the largest retirement surge in at least 25 years.
Many retirees are still waiting for pay, paperwork or even confirmation that their files haven’t been lost.
Many retirees are still waiting for pay, paperwork or even confirmation that their files haven’t been lost.
If your most valuable employee asked for a six-month "micro-retirement" tomorrow, would your current culture see it as a loss to be managed or a strategic investment in their long-term performance?
December 19, 2025 at 10:26 AM
If your most valuable employee asked for a six-month "micro-retirement" tomorrow, would your current culture see it as a loss to be managed or a strategic investment in their long-term performance?
Ultimately, the micro-retirement is the modern professional’s answer to longevity, ensuring they don't arrive at their 60s too exhausted to enjoy them.
December 19, 2025 at 10:26 AM
Ultimately, the micro-retirement is the modern professional’s answer to longevity, ensuring they don't arrive at their 60s too exhausted to enjoy them.
By treating a career as a series of sprints rather than one long marathon, both the individual and the company maintain higher levels of creativity and energy.
December 19, 2025 at 10:26 AM
By treating a career as a series of sprints rather than one long marathon, both the individual and the company maintain higher levels of creativity and energy.