LinkedIn has doubled its members in the Asia Pacific region over the past two years to 100 million, including 8 million in Australia now signed up to the world’s largest professional network.
The increase in APAC members for the professional network juggernaut has meant higher demand for access to the LinkedIn platform, and to meet that demand LinkedIn unveiled in April its S$80 million data centre in Singapore - its first outside the US - to enhance speed and reliability of access.
The Asia Pacific region now represents 22% of LinkedIn’s global member base of over 450 million.
With 37 million members, India retains its spot as the second largest market in member-base terms, after the US, and the largest market in APAC.
{loadposition peter}These latest numbers show that China currently accounts for more than 23 million LinkedIn members, and the member base across Southeast Asia also continues to rise, hitting 18 million, including 6 million in Indonesia, 4 million in the Philippines, 3 million in Malaysia, and 1 million in Singapore.
“The rapid pace at which we doubled our member base from 50 to 100 million members makes this milestone even more special,” says Olivier Legrand, Managing Director, LinkedIn Asia Pacific and Japan.
“It also reflects a growing understanding of the economic value of personal branding and a global professional network. At this scale, LinkedIn is in an even stronger position to help members connect to economic opportunity, whether it’s a new job, a promotion or other business opportunities,” he says.
And, according to Legrand, with 40% or 280 million of the world’s professionals living and working in Asia Pacific, “there’s still plenty of runway for us to grow, particularly in the segments related to students and young professionals, the fastest-growing demographic on LinkedIn”.
“As the region continues to gain momentum as a key economic driver, we can’t wait to see our members become even more successful and extend their influence across the world.”
LinkedIn also lists some of the Asia Pacific “prominent thought leaders” on its platform including Telstra CEO Andy Penn, Prime Minister of India, Nasrendra Modi, Group CEO of AirAsia Tony Fernandes, Group CEO of DBS Bank Piyush Gupta, CEO of Rakuten Hiroshi Mikitani and chairman and managing director of Biocon, Liramn Mazumdar-Shaw.
And, here are some insights into LinkedIn members in Asia Pacific:
• Global connections: Outside of the APAC region, the US and UK are among the top 3 countries that members are connected to, in addition to other professionals in their respective home countries
• “Social Selling”: In APAC, professionals are using LinkedIn to grow their business and career. Across markets like Australia, China, Hong Kong, and Singapore, salesperson emerged as the most common occupation on LinkedIn, followed by business owners. Professionals avoid “cold-calling” and leverage social connections to initiate “warm introductions”, build relationships with prospects and customers to grow their businesses
• Interest in content: Professionals in APAC are also consuming and engaging with content on issues and global challenges that are relevant to them professionally. For example, in the last 90 days in Singapore, China and Hong Kong, “European Union” emerged amongst the top 10 most popular topics in view of the recent news on Brexit. Topics on “Recruiting” and “employee engagement” are top-of-mind for professionals across the region.