Canadian Down Syndrome Society and LinkedIn Launch Jobs Network

In a short film breaking across Canada this week, folks with Down syndrome destroy their résumés in melodramatic fashion, using fire, chainsaws and even a woodchipper, with shredded pages flying into the night like confetti. One industrious gal dunks her CV in liquid nitrogen, then shatters the frozen sheets with a baseball bat.

The cast offers this explanation: “There are 1 million open jobs in Canada. That’s a lot of jobs. Yet over 50 percent of people with Down syndrome can’t get a paying job … My résumé is overlooked, underrepresented. It’s not worth the paper it’s printed on.”

Moving forward, the Canadian Down Syndrome Society posits possible solution: Inployable, an online initiative launched with LinkedIn, designed to help people with Down syndrome connect with work opportunities.

“With the worsening labor shortage, this was the perfect opportunity to focus on employment,” says Andrew MacPhee, the ECD at FCB who guided the campaign. “Businesses have yet to uncover the enormous benefits of hiring people with Down syndrome. As research shows, they can contribute to higher revenues, higher margins, boosted company morale—among many other organizational benefits.”

Here’s Inployable’s welcome video:

“LinkedIn has been fully committed to the idea since our initial meeting,” MacPhee says. “We are already working to add increased functionality to the platform that will benefit the Down syndrome community and make this an evolving, long-term resource.”

The effort targets multiple audiences, with the CDSS initially hoping to build a strong network of candidates. Ultimately, FCB will tailor messages to small-business owners, HR pros and recruiters, particularly at industries hit hardest by the labor shortage, such as manufacturing, restaurants and hospitality.”

To some extent, the push resembles last year’s call for workplace inclusivity from Italian nonprofit CoorDown and creative agency Small, which generated considerable attention thanks to the inclusion of an original song by Sting. While less flashy, Inployable incorporates multiple calls to action, as the CDSS seeks “immediate” tangible results in the marketplace, MacPhee, says.

Through the years, the agency-client team have created many notable campaigns, starting in 2016, when ads with Down folks fielding oft-Googled queries about their condition earned global acclaim. More recently, FCB and the CDSS explored the link between fitness and cognition and strived to make voice assistants more functional for those with special needs. In March, marking World Down Syndrome Day, the CDSS and photographer Hilary Gauld told powerful stories of romance, friendship, gender identity and sexuality.

CREDITS

Campaign Title: Inployable
URL: inployable.com 

Client: Canadian Down Syndrome Society
Chair: Ed Casagrande
Executive Director: Laura LaChance
Marketing & Communications Manager: Courtney Cassel, Kristen Halpen
Senior Manager Fund Development & Donor Management: Pamela Massaro
Board Member: Ben Tarr 

LinkedIn
Canada Country Manager: Diana Luu 
Head of Marketing: Jonathan Li
Agency Development Lead: Sean McConnell 

Creative Agency: FCB Canada
Chief Creative Officer: Nancy Crimi-Lamanna
Executive Creative Director: Andrew MacPhee
Associate Creative Director: Sara Radovanovich
Associate Creative Director: Sally Fung
Creative Director: Ryan Dzur
Creative Director: Sam Cote
Chief Strategy Officer: Shelley Brown
Strategist: Audrey Zink
Community Manager: Serena Luca
VP, Managing Director: Tim Welsh
Group Account Director: Blake Connolly
Account Executive: Sophie Seidelin
Executive Producer, Post-Production: Elise Beauvais
Colourist: Conor Fisher
Editor, Social: Tyler Strahl
Agency Producer: Dan Rankin
Project Manager: Hani Adam
Production Manager: Jennifer Cachola
Production Artist: Mark Parenteau
Production Artist: Joey Ng
Proofreaders: Melanie DaSilva Pinto, Zohrin Jivraj
Retouchers: Marcelle Faucher, Carly Bright
Quality Assurance: Kim Cheung-Quenneville 

PR: Shannon Stephaniuk, Glossy 

Production Company: Suneeva
Executive Producer: Geoff Cornish
Director: Jason Van Bruggen
Line Producer / PM: Joey Bilewicz
Director of Photography: Stuart Cameron 

Editing House: Married to Giants
Executive Producer: Amanda Henry
Editor: Liam Crawford 

Online / VFX: Wingman
Executive Producer: Emily Goldberg
VFX / Online Artist: Jonny Ames 

Colourist: Conor Fisher, 456 Studios 

Audio House: Grayson Music
Audio Producer: Sharon Yokoyama
Director: Mark Domitric
Engineer: Brian Bernard
Music Supervisor: Rich Hamilton 

Social Content Production
Director / DP: Julian Peter
Peter Sound: Marco Furgiuele 

Media: Initiative/Reprise
Ryan Van Dongen VP, Head of Communications Design
Tyler Dmytrow, Senior Director, Head of Social & Strategy Solutions – Reprise
Kate Stevenson, Account Manager – Reprise
Pascaline Forget, Communications Design Supervisor – Initiative
Christian Kern, Strategy Director – Initiative