Across the tech sector, organisations continue navigating restructures, leadership transitions and shifting priorities. For People and Culture teams, the challenge isn’t just managing the operational side of change, it’s protecting trust, clarity and culture when people need it most. At this year’s Tech Talent North, Western Edition, the breakout session Keeping Culture Intact Through Layoffs & Leadership Changes brought this topic to the forefront. Moderated by Shawn Hewat (CEO & Co-Founder, Wavy), the panel featured Tara Ataya (Hootsuite), Shannon Archambault (IFS Copperleaf) and Tina Lai (Kabam).

This year at Tech Talent North, Western Edition, the conversations centered on how teams and leaders can stay steady and effective in a rapidly changing environment. Fahd Alhattab, Founder of Unicorn Labs, opened the day by naming the realities many HR leaders are navigating right now. Fahd offered a clear message: uncertainty is not a disruption. It is the environment organizations are built in. The leaders and teams who excel are the ones who learn to move with change instead of resisting it, and who build the capability to stay focused, aligned and resilient when the pressure rises.

This week’s PACT article captures the energy and insight that came out of Tech Talent North Western Edition 2025. From redefining leadership to reimagining trust in a world of constant change, this year’s conversations proved that HR is no longer just responding to disruption — it’s shaping the future of work. In “From Complexity to Clarity: Six Real-World Lessons from Tech Talent North,” we distill the key takeaways and practical lessons that People & Culture leaders can apply right now to lead with confidence, clarity, and care in the year ahead.

Across today’s sessions, one theme keeps surfacing: the world of work is changing faster than ever. For People & Culture leaders, that means navigating a hiring landscape shaped by shifting markets, new technologies, and evolving expectations, all while keeping people at the heart of it. To explore what great hiring looks like in this new reality, we sat down with Matt Heiydt, Founder of BackStretch.

From mergers to culture shifts, the pace of change is unrelenting. But while strategy and structure matter, it’s the human side (trust, clarity, and leadership) that makes or breaks transformation. That’s why this week, we sat down with Julie Currie, Global HR Executive & Advisor (formerly of Grail, Amplitude, Western Digital, and Sony PlayStation). With decades of experience leading transformation at scale, Julie offers a deeply human perspective: transformation isn’t about managing change, it’s about stewarding trust.

As AI accelerates, hybrid work persists, and economic uncertainty grows, many HR leaders are asking: what does the future of HR really look like and how do we prepare our organizations for it? From the rise of experimentation cultures to the risk of hesitation holding organizations back, the challenges ahead demand courage, clarity and leadership rooted in trust. That’s why this week, we sat down with Rocky Ozaki, Founder & CEO of The NoW of Work. With a background spanning corporate leadership, startup tech, and organizational transformation, Rocky brings his honest perspective on what it takes for People & Culture leaders to guide their organizations through this new era.

Leadership in Uncertain Times. When the ground feels shaky, whether from economic shifts, acquisitions, or workplace transformation, Debby is clear that leadership starts with three essentials: trust, communication, and capability.“ The leader needs to be trustworthy. Without that, no matter what you do, your organization’s not going to be successful because the people are not going to believe what you say.”

A return-to-office policy can seem like a reasonable operational shift, but when it significantly alters the terms of an employee’s role (especially without notice) it can trigger legal claims. As Connor Levy explains, “Even though something like going from zero days in the office to five days could constitute constructive dismissal, there are ways employers can mitigate those risks, and that starts with advance notice.” Shannon Faleiro adds that the most common triggers involve reductions in compensation, shifts in job duties or reporting structures, and increasingly, unresolved toxic work environments.

With more and more HR teams adopting AI tools and remote work becoming standard, the conversation around privacy, compliance, and performance management is intensifying. In this week’s interview, Jordan Michaux breaks down what HR leaders need to know to navigate this evolving space.