According to its father company, Microsoft, the amount of LinkedIn users keep growing – and also globally.
Last week, Microsoft released a report stating the company’s overall performance over their second quarter. In that statement, they demonstrated that LinkedIn reached 675 million total members by the end of 2019, including an overall global growth. They also reported a 25% increase in engagement, a much more important measurement for any social media network. Microsoft also announced that they increased the amount of money spent on the professional network by 12%.
LinkedIn seems to be becoming more and more of an industry standard. Its format provides for a more facilitated way to show your professional brand and connect with others within that professional setting. Some have criticized the increasing number of members who use the networking platform in a more casual manner, while others argue that sharing personal stuff increases interaction among members.
In September of 2019, they launched the Skill Assessments feature, which allows members to certify certain skills through tests. If you’re a Temple student, you may have also noticed that they got rid of Lynda.com as an independent platform and merged Lynda with LinkedIn Learning.
With LinkedIn gaining more members both nationally and internationally, we might be nearing an era where the traditional way of applying to a job (at least in the United States) with a resumé becomes obsolete. Not only that, but by being an accessible platform in other countries, this could hint at a more globalized workforce (provided the future professionals figure out what to do about differences in language and communicating).
What do you think? Is it good news that the oh so dreaded job hunt might become more standardized through a digital platform?
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