Extended question of the week this week

News for 18 August 2026 includes a big fine for Hudson, a big consulting firm moves into search with a former Davidson leader, Robert Walters results, AI disrupts Federal government recruitment, and which sleepy city is on top of LinkedIn's Cities on the Rise rankings? Question of the Week is, "Does being tall pay more? in which Adele and Ross discuss the research about "the beauty premium".

Episode 173 has news for 11 August 2026, including RCSA past-president Sinead Hourigan exiting Robert Walters after two decades, the global staffing market growing for the first time since 2022, TalentVine's acquisition reopens the debate on why job-marketplace platforms keep failing, and NZ's unemployment hitting a decade-high ahead of November's election. Plus — a Queensland court just gutted a non-compete clause, the ATO was forced to scrap an entire recruitment round after AI screened candidates without required human sign-off, Robert Walters' half-year results show revenue up but margins down, KordaMentha lands a new exec search partner amid an ICAC corruption inquiry, one Silicon Valley startup's "get inked, get hired" afterparty backfires spectacularly, and LinkedIn's first-ever Cities on the Rise list crowns an unexpected Australian winner. Question of the Week is "How do you avoid a Fair Work investigation into your on-hire workforce?"*