LinkedIn hits 500 million members

LinkedIn on a mobile device

LinkedIn now has half a billion people using its business-centric social network every day across 200 countries to find new business opportunities and jobs.

The company released a whole raft of new stats, including that it has nine million businesses listed on the network, with more than 100,000 articles published every week.

Aatif Awan, vice president of growth and international products at LinkedIn, claimed that for every connection you make on LinkedIn, you are linked to another 400 people you may have never discovered had you not joined the platform. That same connection could help you get a job at up to 100 companies and gives access to 500 or more jobs too.

The average person in the UK has 144 connections, making it the fourth most connected country on LinkedIn. London is the highest in the worldwide city rankings, with each person living or working in London having an average 307 connections.

Unsurprisingly, the most connected people are working in recruitment or staffing with 702 connections, followed by venture capital and private equity (432 connections), while those with HR listed as their primary job function have 415 connections.

"The impact of half a billion professionals connecting and communicating is very real, and very accessible to anyone who wants to take part today," Awan said.

"We're excited to think about the potential of what a highly connected global community of professionals can do, and the value that is created for every member of the global workforce."

LinkedIn is now another Microsoft product, after its acquisition closed at the end of last year. Following that, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella detailed how he saw the platform evolving under his company, including using LinkedIn's logins and network in Microsoft Outlook and Office, as well as letting LinkedIn users draft resums in Word.

Clare Hopping
Freelance writer

Clare is the founder of Blue Cactus Digital, a digital marketing company that helps ethical and sustainability-focused businesses grow their customer base.

Prior to becoming a marketer, Clare was a journalist, working at a range of mobile device-focused outlets including Know Your Mobile before moving into freelance life.

As a freelance writer, she drew on her expertise in mobility to write features and guides for ITPro, as well as regularly writing news stories on a wide range of topics.