LinkedIn eyes Indonesian professionals with local site

Professional networking site LinkedIn launched its Indonesian version http://id.linkedin.com on Thursday, aiming to invite more local professionals to the site.

LinkedIn managing director for Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand Cliff Rosenberg said in Jakarta during a media gathering that, at present, not less than 835,000 professionals and 300 companies in the country were listed as members.

“We would be delighted if every professional in this country joined the site because LinkedIn is very relevant to local enterprises, and plus it is free of charges,” Rosenberg said.

LinkedIn head of communications for Australia, New Zealand and Southeast Asia Tara Commerford said that the site would not only be relevant to professionals from sectors in information technology and services, telecommunications and oil and energy but also those from creative sectors.

“The site also works well for those working as painters, sculptors and musicians, as we have a creative portfolio section to display their artwork such as photos, sculptures and musical pieces,” she said.

Rosenberg said that the LinkedIn application was available for smartphones including the iPhone, Blackberry and Android. “It works wherever our members work,” he said.

Just a few months ago, he added, LinkedIn launched its local version in Portuguese in Brazil. “The result was massive and it proved that LinkedIn is very accessible to professionals.”

The choice for Indonesia came because there are at least 40 million Internet users in the country.

“Social media is really booming here, including professional networking. Indonesia is one of the highest users in Asia Pacific,” Rosenberg said. Earlier this year, LinkedIn launched versions in Japan, Malaysia and Korea. Currently, LinkedIn has 135 million active members worldwide, with 20 million spread across the Asia Pacific region.

The average age of members is 40 years old, representing well-educated individuals sitting in top positions of their professions.

By joining the site, members will get access to premium subscriptions and become passive candidates in the job market.

He added that 75 percent of Fortune 500 companies had employee recruiters deployed at LinkedIn. (fem)