LinkedIn launches ‘Career Breaks’ feature, allows profiles to add life skills acquired during sabbaticals

LinkedIn has launched a new ‘Career Break’ feature to help normalize taking career breaks and help women re-enter the workforce. This feature, claims LinkedIn, will reduce resume lag as part of our professional journey.

The new feature will allow members to add career breaks to their LinkedIn profiles and stand out for the life experiences they’ve created during their time there, and demonstrate how they can apply these learnings to roles they’re interested in. keep.

Members will be able to choose from 13 different title options under Career Break such as full-time parenting, health and wellness, caregiving, layoffs, career transitions, professional development, and more.

Working women punished for flexible work

Due to strong employer bias, working women of India are facing heavy penalties for working flexibly. 9 in 10 working women had to take a pay cut in order to work flexibly, 2 in 5 (37 percent) denied their flexible working request, and 1 in 4 (27 percent) took their Struggled to persuade the owners to accept their request. This has made women reluctant to ask for more flexibility as they fear ostracism, backing out of promotions, working overtime, taking pay cuts and being treated adversely by their superiors.

Given the guilt and stigma surrounding flexible policies, 1 in 3 working women in India shy away from telling their customers (34%), colleagues (35%) and friends (33%) that they are flexible. work from.

Career break held women back

As working women continue to struggle between tough schedules, between personal commitments and career progression, 4 out of every 5 (78 percent) working women in India are seeking to improve their well-being, plan for career changes, and stay at work. Taking a career break to boost her confidence. ,

With 9 out of 10 working women using their time to learn new hard and soft skills, Career Break is helping women hone their skills and boost their employability in today’s tight job market.

But despite these benefits of relaxation, nearly 4 out of every 5 (77 percent) working women in India who took a break say it had actually brought them back to their careers.

This is due to the prevailing stigma associated with career breaks among recruiters and employers, which has made it difficult for every second (50 percent) working woman in India to explain their career break to recruiters. As a result, many choose to exclude career breaks from their CVs (42 percent) or lie about their breaks to potential recruiters during interviews (35 percent).

Forced to describe their career breaks, 80 percent of India’s working women aspire to ways that help them represent their career breaks more positively to hiring managers.

“Flexible working is the No. 1 priority for all professionals today, especially for working women. In fact, our research has found that India is on the verge of ‘flexidus’, with 7 out of 10 working women lacking flexibility. Reasons are quitting or are considering quitting. It’s a warning sign for companies and employers to address the stigma surrounding the need for flexibility and career breaks, and if they don’t want to lose top talent. So offer strong resilience policies,” says Ruchi Anand, senior director, India Talent & Learning Solutions, LinkedIn.

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