Financial sector woes boost LinkedIn

by Milly Glaister, Media Week 29-Sep-08, 11:05

LONDON - LinkedIn, the global networking website aimed at the business community, has reported soaring membership figures in the wake of a worsening economic climate and growing concern around job security and future career prospects.

In the last two weeks, LinkedIn has seen a 17% increase in registrations and a 14% increase in recommendations. The site now claims to reach 28 million business executives around the world, with every Fortune 500 and FTSE 100 company said to be represented.

Latest user figures also reveal that over the past seven weeks, members joining from the financial sector have doubled as the fallout from closures, mergers and government bailouts sweep through the sector.

A recent poll by the networking site, run in conjunction with news partner CNBC, confirmed that 42% of members feel their jobs are less secure in the current environment.

Respondents from chief executive and vice-president-level were found to be the most pessimistic, with 44.3% of members fearing the declining security of their jobs.

Although the figures highlight the negative personal impact of the current financial crisis, the increase in membership is good news for LinkedIn, especially after the launch of rival business social network Xing's publicity drive for UK members last week.

LinkedIn has more than 2,000 jobs posted each month and the ease of accessibility to professionals in every industry is believed to have been a key factor in the success of the networking site.

Comments

Philip Calvert - 29/09/2008

An interesting article - thank you. It's not just LinkedIn that is seeing increased membership levels. In fact, the future lies very much within niche social networks, which ultimately will have far greater appeal for people within specific jobs or professions. Such niche networks are allowing people to interact and engage with each other at a much more meaningful level. What's more, suppliers to specific professions can use niche networks to target their communications very much more accurately. Financial services is a good example of niche online social networks in action. IFA Life for example is a financial social network where financial planners and wealth managers can network with each other, share best practice and debate industry issues etc online. Consumers also use IFA Life to find a financial planner in their area. see http://www.ifalife.com Thanks again. Philip Calvert Social Media Marketing Speaker