Today marks the launch of the the Working with Cancer campaign, a new Publicis Groupe initiative to fight the stigma of cancer in the workplace.
Personal experience
In April 2022, Publicis CEO Arthur Sadoun was diagnosed and treated for cancer. After making his condition public, he received thousands of testimonies that exposed the fear those with cancer experienced, not only for their lives, but also for their jobs.
Those messages reflected an unsettling reality that Working with Cancer aims to address:
- 50% of cancer patients are afraid to tell their employer about their diagnosis
- despite 92% feeling that support at work positively impacts their health.
Building momentum
At Davos in January, Working with Cancer partnered with the World Economic Forum to launch a pledge rallying some of the world’s most influential companies around the commitment to building the most open, supportive and recovery-forward work cultures for their employees.
It invited every business, big and small, across the globe to join the movement at Workingwithcancerpledge.com. On this platform, each company will be able to outline their own commitments to cancer patients in their organisations.
Publicis’ specific pledge includes providing cancer patients with full job security for at least one year, and bringing the necessary career support not only for them, but also for caregivers in their organization.
This pledge will be amplified by a campaign – ‘Work/Life’ – that illustrates what cancer patients go through when they hide their condition from their colleagues.
Working with Cancer already has the support of key global organisations including Abbvie, Adobe, AXA, Bank of America, BNP Paribas, BT, Carrefour, Citi, Disney, EE, Google, Haleon, HPE, Labcorp, L’Oréal, Lloyd’s, LVMH, Marriott, McDonald’s, Meta, Mondelez, Microsoft, MSD, Nestlé, Orange, Omnicom, Pepsico, Reckitt, Renault Group, Sanofi, Sodexo, Toyota, Unilever, Verizon, and Walmart.
#workingwithcancer
Launching before World Cancer Day (Feb 4th), #workingwithcancer is a global initiative aimed at removing the stigma of cancer at work by encouraging companies to stand with employees facing cancer to create an open, supportive, and recovery-forward culture for all employees.
We encourage you to look out for the campaign on social media and share any personal stories on the impact of cancer on your work life.
This is a short video which might also be of interest:
