Career gap titles, pronoun options: LinkedIn outlines steps to become “more inclusive”

LinkedIn users will soon be able to select from a number of new job titles when updating their profile to better describe times when they’ve taken time out from work. 

The change means parents now have the option of selecting “stay-at-home-mum”, “stay-at-home-dad” or “stay-at-home-parent” for times when they have been full-time carers of their children.

In coming weeks, users who select one of the ‘stay-at-home’ job titles and set their employment type to ‘self-employed’ will also no longer need to specify an employer or company. 

LinkedIn is also planning to introduce a new field for profiles to cover employment gap types, including “parental leave”, “family care” and “sabbatical”.

Source: LinkedIn.

In a post on the official LinkedIn blog, LinkedIn engineering lead Bef Ayenew said the changes are part of a broader effort to make the platform more inclusive. 

This also includes a new option that will allow LinkedIn users to add gender pronouns alongside their name in their profile, as well as other new features including video cover stories and ‘creator mode’ for users who regularly publish content.

Ayenew said the new ‘career gap’ profile options were developed in direct response to LinkedIn members, particularly women and mothers, requesting more ways to communicate career gaps due to parenting and other responsibilities. 

This has become even more important during the COVID-19 pandemic, with Ayenew pointing to official data that shows more than 2.5 million women in the US left the workforce because of a lack of childcare or home learning requirements for their children. 

“A disproportionate amount of women’s jobs were affected by the pandemic, and our global labor market data finds that women’s hiring is more vulnerable, and prone to economic shocks and business disruption, than men’s,” he added. 

Ayenew also hinted at more changes to come for LinkedIn profiles. 

“Every person’s career journey is different and we’re working hard to make sure LinkedIn provides an inclusive experience for everyone,” he added.