#Opentowork Badge on LinkedIn: Helpful or Limiting?

A friend of mine lost her job in 2020.

Like many others during the pandemic, she was stressed and unsure about what to do next.

She opened LinkedIn and added the new Open to Work badge.

Yep, that little green ring around her profile photo.

Within days, recruiters started messaging her. She felt hopeful again. But a week later, she told me it felt like she was wearing a sign that said she was pleased to hire her and that she was desperate. And I didn't expect that. The badge was supposed to help people.

And it did help. She got more views, messages, and interviews.

But that also made her feel embarrassed and exposed. She wasn’t alone.

Many job seekers started sharing the same feeling.

They liked the visibility but not the way it made them look. That’s when things got tricky.

So, what exactly was this badge?

A simple badge with big consequences

In 2020, LinkedIn launched the Open to Work feature to help people who had lost jobs during the pandemic. If you turned it on, a green ring appeared around your profile picture with the words Open to Work.

The idea was simple:

• Let recruiters know you are available
• Help job seekers get seen faster
• Give more chances to people who need work.

It seemed like a smart move. And it worked, at least at first. People with the badge saw 40% more messages from recruiters. Job seekers were finally getting attention. But soon, something unexpected happened. Users started to feel judged.

Some felt like the badge made them look unemployed, unwanted, or worse, desperate. They started doubting themselves and asked questions like:

• Will companies think less of me if I have this badge?
• Will it seem like I am begging for a job?
• What if people think I am not good enough because I need to show I am available?

So, LinkedIn has a problem now. They made a feature that helped with visibility.

But it also hurt people’s confidence. That tension became a lesson in how even the smallest design choices can shape people's feelings.

What Did LinkedIn Do When the Badge Sparked a Backlash?

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‍1. They listened beyond the numbers

At first, LinkedIn saw the numbers go up. More people were using the badge, and job seekers were getting more messages from recruiters. That was a win. But LinkedIn’s product team didn’t stop there. They looked at qualitative feedback, not just the metrics.

They read the comments. They watched what people said on LinkedIn, Twitter, Reddit, and in job-seeking groups. Look at what people think across all these channels:

On LinkedIn:

On Twitter (Now X):

On Reddit:

They saw that people were sharing real concerns, like:

• It makes me feel exposed.
• Recruiters might assume I am not good enough.
• I am afraid this will hurt my chances.

That was emotional data, and it mattered.

Even though the badge worked on paper, it caused reputation anxiety in real life.

That’s when LinkedIn realized that good metrics don’t always mean good experience.

2. They understood the signal, not just the feature

The product team went a level deeper.

They started asking: What does the badge signal to the world?

Sure, it says that people are looking for work. But it also means:

• I am in need.
• I might not have a job right now.
• Please give me a chance.

In a professional world, these signals can carry unspoken weight. Some recruiters might see it as an initiative, and others see it as a weakness. For example:

That’s not LinkedIn’s fault, but it’s their responsibility because you don’t just ship features as a product manager but shape how people are seen. So, LinkedIn had to ask: How do we give users the visibility benefit without harming their reputation?

3. They gave users a choice

The best product decisions often come from a simple idea: Put control back in the user’s hands. LinkedIn didn’t remove the badge. Instead, they added a new option.

Now, when someone turns on Open to Work, they can choose:

• Show the badge to everyone (public)
• Show the badge to recruiters only (private)

This gave people privacy and power. If someone wanted complete visibility, they could go public. If someone cared more about the image, they could stay discreet.

This small change did three big things:

1. Reduced the fear of looking desperate
2. Kept the badge helpful for recruiter searches
3. Made users feel in control of their own story

And all it took was one toggle in the settings.

4. They redesigned the experience with emotion in mind

LinkedIn didn’t just add a toggle and walk away. They went deeper into how they can change how this badge feels, not just how it looks. They realized the problem wasn’t only about who saw the badge. It was about how people feel wearing it.  

So, the product team started making subtle but powerful changes:

• They softened the wording so it didn’t scream I need a job.
• They adjusted how the badge showed up in search results.
• They tested different shades of green and layout options to make it feel more neutral.
• They watched how users reacted through comments, shares, and feedback loops, not just through clicks.

That is a perfect example of designing with emotional intelligence. LinkedIn saw embarrassment, fear, and self-doubt as signals and treated them like data, just as important as open rates or recruiter clicks. Most teams focus on logic - What works? What converts?

But LinkedIn zoomed out. By mixing design changes with emotional insight, they rebuilt trust.

And that made the difference.

Lessons For Product Managers

#1. A feature that performs well on paper can still fail emotionally

The Open to Work badge drove more recruiter messages. By the metrics, it worked. But product managers can’t stop at the dashboard. Just because something drives engagement doesn’t mean it builds trust. In this case, visibility came at the cost of user dignity.

So, measure emotional friction the same way you measure feature adoption. High usage doesn’t always mean high satisfaction.

#2. Every UI element sends a signal, even if it’s unintentional

A green badge seems harmless, but in a professional context, it became a social signal that shaped how people saw each other. That wasn’t just a design choice but was a status indicator. As a PM, you are not just shipping features. You are designing the social language of your platform.

Always ask: What does this element say about the user, even if we didn’t mean it to say that?

#3. Give users control over how they are represented

LinkedIn fixed the problem not by removing the badge but by giving people options. One small toggle (recruiter-only visibility) allowed users to manage their social image. So, empower your users to manage context. Visibility without control creates anxiety. Customization builds trust.

#4. Don’t treat emotional feedback as edge cases

Early feedback about the badge being desperate wasn’t in the majority, but it shaped the product. Instead of brushing it off as noise, LinkedIn dug into the emotions behind the words. Therefore, emotional edge cases often reveal deeper UX truths. If something feels off to even a few users, investigate. That discomfort could signal a silent majority.

#5. Small signals = big consequences in status-driven products

LinkedIn is a reputation-based platform. Every design choice, like badges, job titles, and comments, impacts how users are seen. That makes it different from utility-first products. If your product shapes status (like LinkedIn, Twitter, or Airbnb), even a little visual cue can trigger social consequences. Design with that power in mind.

Final Thoughts

LinkedIn’s Open to Work badge worked because it solved a real problem: visibility during a crisis. But the first version missed a key truth:

How something looks can matter as much as what it does.

It wasn’t the badge itself that caused problems but the feeling it created. The move LinkedIn made didn’t overcorrect or defend the metrics. They quietly added choice, softened the tone, and let users decide how they wanted to show up. That’s the real product win here.

Sometimes, your feature doesn’t need a redesign. It just needs empathy.

Have you ever built something that worked but didn’t feel right for users?
What’s your take on the #opentowork badge on LinkedIn?

Hit reply and share your thoughts.

That’s all for today!

Talk soon,
Sid.