RIYADH – LinkedIn, the world's largest professional network with more than 238 million members worldwide and nine million in the MENA region, announced Wednesday it has surpassed the one million professional member milestone in Saudi Arabia. The growing LinkedIn member base in the Kingdom is indicative of the growing interest in professional networking as well as the depth of talent that the country has to offer. According to LinkedIn data analysis, the platform is used by specific groups and professionals with diverse skill sets. Top findings from the analysis include:
* The top three skills found on LinkedIn profiles in KSA are management, sales and training. * The top three universities whose students are on LinkedIn in the Kingdom are King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals, Jamiat Al-Malik Saud and Jamiat Al-Malik Abdulaziz. * The top three industries members in KSA belong to are Construction, Oil & Energy and Healthcare. * The top three companies in KSA with the most number of employees on LinkedIn include Saudi Aramco, SABIC and Saudi Telecom Company (STC)
In addition, the growing adoption of smart devices in Saudi Arabia has led to an increase in the number of LinkedIn members accessing the platform from mobile devices. Globally, over 33 percent of LinkedIn members access the website through mobile devices and with 200 percent mobile penetration in Saudi Arabia, professionals in the country have another way to engage with their professional network on the go. “It's great to see over a million Saudi based professionals already using LinkedIn to give them the edge, not just in looking for new jobs, but to make them more productive and successful in the job they already have. As well as letting our local members establish their online professional identity, LinkedIn allows professionals to connect to their network of trusted contacts and access new business insights,” said Ali Matar, Head of Talent Solutions, LinkedIn MENA. “Across the MENA region, we have grown to nine million members from five million at the time of launching our regional operations and this expanding network of professionals will, help professionals in KSA to discover opportunities from right across the region, build relationships in a professional context and drive growth for the local economy,” added Ali Matar. Increasingly, Saudi based entities including The Ministry of Commerce and Saudi Telecom Company (STC) are utilizing LinkedIn's Talent Solutions to identify and recruit top talent in the country. By using LinkedIn, companies can identify and secure the best candidates more quickly and more cost effectively than if they had relied on traditional recruitment tools. Nawaf Saad Al-Shalani, General Manager, Corporate Communications at Saudi Telecom Company, said “LinkedIn is unique, in a way that it helps address a cross-section of our other stakeholders such as potential employees, partners, business segment, media and in certain cases even government, in addition to customers. As in the past, we will continue to leverage upon the strengths of LinkedIn and consolidate our presence and partnership with LinkedIn both as an interactive platform as well as a service for our customers.” – SG
