LinkedIn Finally Adds Job Titles To Include Stay At Home Parents
Parents, childcare providers, and grandparents everywhere are celebrating the ability to more accurately reflect their work history on the professional networking site LinkedIn.
Over one year into a global pandemic that has affected the employment of millions and closed the majority of childcare services, the platform has gone ahead with a highly requested update to include job titles for caregivers.
LinkedIn Has Become Crucial In Modern Hiring Practices
LinkedIn is a professional business networking site that is popularly used by companies and corporations during the hiring process.
Certain businesses, particularly in the tech industry, will not even consider a candidate for hire if they do not have an up-to-date LinkedIn profile.
The Closure Of Childcare Services Caused People To Leave The Paid Workforce
The reality is that the pandemic impacted millions of people in the workforce, particularly those who had children and families at home to care for.
The closure of schools, daycares, and restrictions on visiting family resulted in many people, particularly women, leaving the paid workforce to provide childcare services for their families.
Until Now, You Had To Work For A Legal Daycare To Be Considered A Childcare Provider
Previously, LinkedIn required caregivers to connect their job title to an existing business.
If the users didn't have a personal business or legally registered daycare to connect their job to, there was no option for them to select a job title to accurately reflect their work.
Childcare Providers Have Had To Deal With Large Gaps On Their Professional Resumes
Until now, having no job title options for childcare providers has resulted in large gaps in people's LinkedIn resumes.
LinkedIn has finally updated its job titles to more accurately reflect the field of childcare services including stay-at-home mom, stay-at-home dad, and childcare provider.
Women And Grandparents Were Disproportionately Affected By Losing Access To Childcare
Women and minority women were disproportionately affected by the loss of paid work during the pandemic, partly because they were forced to choose between employment and childcare.
Grandparents also stepped in to fill the childcare void, sometimes leaving their jobs to do so.
Being A Caregiver Is Way Harder Than People Get Credit For
This woman's tweet hits the nail on the head when she says that being a stay-at-home mom was the hardest job she's ever had. Organizing a family and a home is no easy feat.
As the terminology around their job titles change, caregivers will no longer have to come up with clever ways to describe their roles as homemakers and caregivers. For example, "Household CEO" or "Operations Manager For Children."
LinkedIn Could Help Normalize Childcare Services As A Marketable Skill
The time management, negotiation, de-escalation, and all-around socializing skills that come with managing a home and providing childcare are easily transferrable.
Changes like LinkedIn expanding to include working parents and caregivers could help normalize the job altogether. Especially after parents have added becoming at-home educators to their responsibilities.
People Are Making Career Switches As They Return To The Workforce
As the restrictions of the pandemic ease, people are taking steps to rejoin the workforce. Oftentimes, people are switching careers or industries altogether because their former job is no longer an option.
Many businesses succumbed to the financial freeze of the pandemic and are not reopening their doors, meaning that their former employees are forced to seek work elsewhere.
Hiring Processes Moving To An Online Format Makes LinkedIn Even More Important
As the hiring process shifts to an increasingly online format (especially during and post-pandemic) businesses look to LinkedIn profiles to determine the qualifications of their candidates.
The addition of the childcare services job titles allows people to more accurately reflect their work history and explain any paid employment gaps in their resumes.
