LinkedIn Community Comes Together to Support Women this International Women’s Day 

LinkedIn, the world’s largest professional network, is set to launch its first global integrated campaign for International Women’s Day 2021 with creators, content and community at its heart. 

Launching in time for International Women’s Day on the 8th March, the campaign will see LinkedIn bring together influencers and its community to share content that helps and supports women, creating global engagement across the platform. The campaign launches across PR, social, above the line and through influencer activity, as well as Linkedin’s owned channels: LinkedIn News, LinkedIn Learning, LinkedIn Marketing and LinkedIn Employee Resource Groups.

The launch comes as Linkedin’s data shows Covid-19 has disproportionately impacted women’s careers. Women’s jobs are more vulnerable than men’s and women have been hired at a lower rate since the pandemic. Additionally, women’s careers have been more adversely affected by disruptions to jobs in retail, travel, leisure and that women were less likely to work in remote-ready roles. Significantly, women around the world applied to 11% fewer jobs compared to men in 2020*. 

Created with lead creative agency VCCP, the campaign will publish advice, insights and inspirational stories to celebrate women’s voices on and off the LinkedIn platform and encourage conversations that help and empower them.

The campaign leads with an emotive film showcasing inspirational real-life stories of seven women from around the world.The film, directed by Jessie Ayles, a filmmaker with a focus on socially conscious issues, takes viewers across the world to meet real women telling us their emotive accounts of the doubts, fears and vulnerabilities they have experienced during the pandemic. The seven women featured tell their personal stories about who in their community gave them the confidence and support to get through the pandemic in order to highlight both the issue and the solution.

The campaign also leans on influencers and the wider community to share their stories of women who have inspired them using #WeCanDoIt, as well as voices from male influencers on how to be a better ally for women in the workplace.The aim is to engage our members’  on International Women’s Day with inspirational stories that encourage honest conversations about the pressures working women are under during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Senior director of brand and communications, International, (EMEA, LATAM & APAC) at LinkedIn, Ngaire Moyes, said: “Women have faced greater economic hardship through the Covid-19 pandemic, disproportionately losing jobs and income. Decades of progress in gender equality has been undone in a matter of months. This shift has impacted how our female members interact on the platform and we have seen countless examples of the LinkedIn community sharing their stories and supporting each other in whatever way they can. 

Seeing the way our community pulled together in this crisis was the inspiration for our first international integrated campaign to mark International Women’s Day. Through the #WeCanDoIt campaign, we hope to  elevate the voices of our female members across the platform and encourage others to share their personal stories in a bid to help and empower working women around the world.”

Nicky Vita, head of planning at VCCP comments: “#WeCanDoIt is a powerful campaign that has community at its heart, demonstrating the fact that women are not alone and raising awareness of the issue and showing that we can all make a difference. We’re proud to partner with LinkedIn to help empower women and celebrate their voices on International Women’s Day.”

To help people and businesses take steps to improve gender equality in the workplace, LinkedIn is also making free online learning courses available to everyone: Leadership Strategies for Women, Planning Your Family Leave and Return, Proven Success Strategies for Women at Work, Own It: The Power of Women at Work, and Becoming a Male Ally at Work (available from February 28th to March 31st).

The campaign also sees LinkedIn partner with The Female Lead, an educational charity founded by Edwina Dunn, OBE. The charity is dedicated to finding the factors that limit women’s choices and fulfilment and amplifies their voices in order to drive change and improve economic outcomes. LinkedIn has released global research alongside the charity to explore the ‘Entitlement Gap’ between working women and men in order to shine a light on the issue and encourage conversations that help and celebrate women. 

The campaign launches on 8th March across UK, France, Germany, India, Australia and Japan where members will be encouraged to join the conversation on LinkedIn to help and empower others by using #WeCanDoIt.