Social Impact
Transforming the world of work
We aim to transform the world of work, ensuring that everyone gets quality jobs that provide economic security and opportunities for advancement.
With the power of our platform and our people, and in partnership with organizations that share our values, we aim to help 30 million job seekers facing barriers get hired by 2030 and bring about an equitable and inclusive future of work.
Our social impact efforts expand on our mission to help people get jobs and our commitment to help society and our shared planet. We are working to break down bias and barriers in hiring and connect people to better work to create better lives.
Breaking down barriers to employment
Most barriers to employment are unrelated to a candidate’s skills or ability to do the job.
Bias and barriers in hiring can negatively impact a person before, during, and after the job search, making it hard to find, get, and keep a job. Although there are a myriad of barriers people face globally, we have identified five focus areas and initiatives in our social impact strategy.
This work is evolving. Our platform allows people to provide their demographic data, which helps us understand where to focus our efforts to make the greatest impact on job seekers facing barriers and make hiring more inclusive.
Traditional hiring practices often exclude many STARs. STARs are job seekers who are skilled through alternative routes, such as community college, military experience, or on-the-job experience, rather than a bachelor’s degree.
Skills-first hiring means if you can do the job, you should get the job, regardless of how or where you built your skills. For job seekers, skills-first hiring can remove barriers presented by the lack of a particular degree or credential and can unlock jobs and upskilling that lead to better opportunities and more economic mobility. For employers, it becomes easier to find quality, committed candidates.
Indeed joined the Tear the Paper Ceiling campaign in 2023 to help build the movement for skills-first hiring. As an employer, Indeed has eliminated degree requirements for over 700 internal jobs and launched the BOOST technical apprenticeship program to transition employees into software development roles.
People with disabilities face additional barriers to finding a job and may need additional accommodations on the job.
Indeed believes in the power of human potential and strives to remove barriers that prevent people with disabilities from getting jobs. This forms the foundation of our commitment to educating employers about disability inclusion, adhering to Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), and going beyond checklists to create truly inclusive experiences for everyone, regardless of barriers.
In a tight labor market, more In a tight labor market, more companies are seeing the benefit of giving every candidate a fair chance. Job seekers with a criminal record—such as those who were formerly incarcerated—often face extra challenges, making it especially difficult to find the right opportunity.
Indeed is proud to be a fair chance employer and is actively working to improve employment opportunities for people with criminal records.
Without critical support like digital access and transportation, people struggle to find work and stay employed.
Indeed’s Essentials to Work program provides critical resources — such as access to technology, transportation, and record-clearing services — to job seekers who need them most.
The number of refugees worldwide has nearly tripled since 2013. Getting a job is one of the most important factors in helping a refugee start their life in a new country.
While many refugees already have the skills and qualifications needed to do the jobs in their host countries, Indeed is working to address the challenges they face in having those qualifications fully recognized and appreciated by employers in the places they now call home.
Skill Connect helps turn training into careers
Skill Connect was designed in partnership with workforce training providers who know firsthand the challenges faced by job seekers who face barriers. It is a customized Indeed Resume builder that pre-populates a job seeker’s skills and certifications gained through training programs. With this information about the job seeker, Indeed provides curated job search results in their new field or industry.
How Social Impact at Indeed works
As part of our ESG commitments, we’re focused on helping 30M people facing barriers get hired by 2030. We know we can’t do that alone. We work with national and community-based partners across the globe to set our strategic priorities and shape the way our platform and products work. We also invest in partnerships that directly help people facing barriers get the support they need before, during, and after the hire.
By combining the best of what our partners offer with Indeed’s technology, data, insights, and access to networks of employers, we can further our mission to help all people get jobs.
By combining the best of what our partners offer with Indeed’s technology, data, insights, and access to networks of employers, we can further our mission to help all people get jobs.
Case study
As part of our strategic focus on fair chance hiring:
We heard directly from partner organizations that people impacted by the criminal legal system were having trouble determining which employers would hire them.
Thanks to their input, we created a fair chance filter to highlight employers who are open to hiring people who have been involved with the criminal legal system.
We learned how many people who were eligible to have their criminal records cleared did not have the resources to do so.
So, we invested in record-clearing services across the U.S. through our Essentials to Work program.
We know what an important role employers play in removing bias and barriers.
We have used our platform to educate employers about fair chance best practices and joined networks like the Second Chance Business Coalition to build stronger connections among committed employers
Employee engagement
Indeed empowers our employees to engage in the issues they are passionate about while giving back to the communities where we live and work. We believe people and teams at Indeed can better serve job seekers and employers when Indeedians have opportunities to interact directly with job seekers facing barriers and gain insights into the challenges they face.
Good Deeds
Through Good Deeds, Indeed’s employee volunteering and donation matching platform, Indeedians supported over 1,800 unique community organizations globally, donated over $1M (USD), and provided over 6,700 hours of volunteer service in 2023.
Job Squad
Job Squad is our dedicated program for Indeedian volunteers to support job seekers, especially those facing bias and barriers, in our communities and make their job search more successful. We partner with organizations to catalyze their impact and empower Indeedians to make a difference in their own communities.
Our partners
