New LinkedIn features for post-pandemic hiring. 🪑

There are social gaffes and there are gaffes on social – and Dulux’s social media team were left red-faced when they badly misread the room, celebrating their new partnership with Tottenham Hotspur by trolling the club for its empty trophy cabinet. Talk about taking the gloss off a new deal.

Elsewhere, H&M launched a great, socially-responsible campaign and LinkedIn launched some progressive new features that could make a real difference to hirers and job seekers today.

Social Media · 4 mins

Apple wants to help users hide from data harvesting. Facebook’s not happy.

Apple has introduced a new feature that’s causing a rift between the tech giant and Facebook: its iPads and iPhones will include a feature that allows users to switch off data tracking in apps. But user data is fundamental to Facebook’s revenue model, and the company is not happy. (It comes to something when Apple represents the moral high ground. Did we say that out loud?!)

Social Media · 3 mins

Football clubs boycott social media

From April 30th The Premier League, English Football League and Women’s Super League united in a four-day boycott of social media in an effort to combat the racial abuse and discrimination often directed at players on the big social channels. The Football Association, anti-discrimination charity Kick it Out and other bodies were also involved.

With abuse part and parcel of being on social media for many professional footballers, football authorities are calling on the big social platforms to do more to combat or educate trolls.

Retail · 4 mins

H&M offers free suits to job seekers

High street fashion retailer H&M has launched a UK campaign allowing jobseekers to borrow a suit for interviews, provided they return it within 24 hours. The suits must be returned to one of the company’s dry cleaning partners in a prepaid bag.

We love this; the Employment Related Services Association has said 16-24-year-olds comprise 57 per cent of the fall in employment over the past year – a disproportionately high impact on people who may not be able to afford to make a great first impression in their search for a job.

Furthermore, this campaign is part of a drive by H&M to become more sustainable, which includes aiming to use only recycled or sustainably sourced materials in its clothes by 2030.

Social Media · 8 mins

New LinkedIn features you need to know about

LinkedIn is rolling out new features to help job seekers and employers. One, a new way for users to address career gaps on their profiles, allows them to select titles such as “Stay-at-home mum/dad”, “Parental leave”, “Sabbatical” and so on. It’s also easier for the self-employed or freelancers to display experience without having to cite an employer. The site is also adding Skills Path, a new way for employers to better identify and engage with jobseekers who have the potential to fill their roles but may go overlooked due to not being an immediate and obvious match.

ALSO IN THE NEWS…

LinkedIn and Facebook have played down massive data hacks on their networks; Dulux’s social media team scored an own-goal with a tone-deaf gaffe that didn’t land well with its new partner Tottenham Hotspur, and London gets Amazon’s first checkout-free store outside the US.