LinkedIn offers to connect job-seekers with essential businesses for free
LinkedIn built a profitable business with its paid tools for job recruiters.
Social networking application LinkedIn. Aytac Unal | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
Now in the wake of COVID-19 shutting down broad swaths of the economy, LinkedIn is ditching the core engine of its business model to help people connect with jobs at no cost. With unemployment claims spiking to record levels, LinkedIn is connecting essential businesses — such as hospitals — with qualified employees and volunteers at no charge.
LinkedIn, which was acquired by Microsoft in 2016, is expanding its longstanding Recruiting for Good program, which uses LinkedIn employees to help healthcare organizations and disaster-relief non-profits fill positions.
Right now, the company has 100 employees recruiting for 540 hospitals, and is working on 260 requests from healthcare organizations and non-profits looking to fill over 26,000 roles.
LinkedIn is also providing free job postings for essential businesses – it created an “urgent jobs board” and has received requests from 660 organizations around the world to fill over 130,000 positions.
The company’s massive reach, with 675 million monthly active users and 30 million companies, is proving effective: On the first day after it launched a campaign with the American Red Cross Los Angeles region to find volunteers to distribute meals to families impacted by school closures, LinkedIn drove more than 2,000 members to visit the volunteer application page.
The platform says this is just the beginning. “We are committed to continuing to identify new ways we can support the fight against this global pandemic,” writes VP of Product Tomer Cohen. “The health and well-being of our global communities is our collective priority.”
LinkedIn isn’t the only jobs site revamping in the wake of the coronavirus downturn.
Job-hunting services Ziprecruiter, Indeed, and Careerbuilder are highlighting work-from-home job opportunities and featuring advice for workers who have lost jobs or have been furloughed due to COVID-19.
There are also a number of companies that focus on work-from-home roles. Boldly is a start-up that looks to fill work-from-home positions that are full staff employees, and will receive company benefits; prospects need to be able to work at least 20 hours a week from home. Flexjobs’ platforms includes full-time, part-time, and freelance roles, and users can search based on industry. And there are a number of job-board companies focused on specific industries, such as FreeUp, which is focused on the e-commerce industry, Textbroker, for writers, and Dice, for engineers.
