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Ever see someone confidently say:

“We should just get rid of HR entirely.”

This episode starts right there — with the kind of take that sounds bold on the surface… and falls apart the second you think about how workplaces actually function.

We dig into a growing wave of content and commentary claiming that HR is unnecessary — or worse, actively harmful — often framed like it’s some kind of breakthrough idea.

Except when you actually listen to the arguments, they tend to follow a pattern.

They focus on:

•  extreme examples 
•  worst-case scenarios 
•  or situations where HR clearly failed 

…and then jump straight to:

“So let’s eliminate the entire function.”

There’s a moment in the conversation where it becomes clear what’s really happening:

This isn’t about improving HR.
 It’s about creating reactions.

Because the more extreme the take, the more attention it gets.

We also get into the contradiction behind a lot of these arguments.

The same people saying HR shouldn’t exist are often describing:

•  workplace conflicts 
•  employee issues 
•  policy breakdowns 

…that would require someone to handle them.

Just not HR, apparently.

At one point, the conversation shifts into what actually happens in companies that try to minimize or remove HR structures.

Not in theory — in practice.

And what you see is:

•  problems don’t disappear 
•  they just get pushed onto managers 
•  or handled inconsistently 
•  or ignored until they become bigger issues 

There’s also a discussion around where some of the criticism does come from.

Because not all of it is wrong.

There are real frustrations with:

•  inconsistent enforcement 
•  poor communication 
•  or HR being seen as disconnected from employees 

But instead of fixing those issues, the conversation online tends to skip straight to:

“Let’s get rid of HR altogether.”

And that’s where the episode lands.

Because the reality is:

You can criticize HR.
 You can improve HR.

But removing it entirely doesn’t remove the problems —
 it just removes the structure that’s supposed to deal with them.

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