US-based social networking company LinkedIn is looking at buying Indian start-ups, has tweaked its India portal and with its new 800 seater office in Bengaluru, as it seeks to build on its India presence.
India is currently the second biggest market for LinkedIn globally, with a user-base of 35 million. “This country is of great strategic importance and we are open for acquisitions that are strategic fits,” said Allen Blue, Co-founder, LinkedIn, a company which he co-founded with Reid Hoffman in 2002.
LinkedIn, opened a new centre in Bengaluru, spread across 250,000 square feet, which has a capacity to seat 800 people. Currently, it has around 400 employees in India across different cities. LinkedIn did not spell out its hiring plans.
The emphasis that Blue, a Stanford Arts graduate himself, places on India has to do with the fact that the country, with its combination of talent (which includes start-ups) and as a market, presents a huge opportunity. Blue, however, did not go into specifics but outlined that the product (LinkedIn) innovation as well as localising content for efficient job discovery are important to the company.
As an example, Akshay Kothari, India head of LinkedIn, cited examples such as tweaks to the app that will enable it to work with slower network connectivity, usage words like seniors, instead of alumni (which is the norm among US students) are areas that the company is working on. Additionally, the Benagluru centre will work across all products – from email notifications to better search experiences.
At a broad level, Blue outlined the fact that the company since its inception when it started as a network of people, it has extended to cover companies, jobs, schools, skills and knowledge that is relevant for professionals.
“Our vision is to create economic opportunities across the world and one of the biggest issues here is the skill gap,” Blue opined. LinkedIn Placements last year launched its ‘Placements’ initiative with an aim of targeting 5 million Indian graduates who are first-time job seekers.
These developments come at a time when the world’s largest social networking website Facebook, earlier this month launched ‘Facebook at Work’, which allows employees in an organisation to collaborate, similar to LinkedIn. But LinkedIn is starting to make some inroads in the enterprise segment. HCL Tech has used LinkedIn for recruitment and branding.
Analysts though feel that the time has come for LinkedIn to prioritise the India market. “Social media-based recruitment is gathering ground and they need to innovate in this area,” said Anshoo Nandwaani, V-P, Principal Analyst, Greyhound Research.
In this aspect, Blue believes that Lynda, a company which it acquired recently, will play a critical role in acquiring skills that are needed to advance their careers, a space which is dominated currently by companies offering open education courses like EdX.
Source: Business Line
