Picture Credit :Greg Bulla
LinkedIn is a popular application owned by Microsoft which gives users the opportunity to expand their professional networks, develop their careers and helps job seekers and employers connect with each other in an easy and efficient manner. The company had been operating in China for the past seven years but have now decided to pull back their operation.
LinkedIn has been extremely popular in China and had amassed close to 45 million users of the application. However, due to the tight regulatory reign of the Chinese government they have decided to shut down the platform in China. Mohak Shroff, Senior Vice President of Engineering at LinkedIn commented that they had to make that decision due to “a significantly more challenging operating environment and greater compliance requirements in China”.
China has had a massive crackdown on western tech companies operating in the region. Companies such as Google, Facebook and Twitter are not allowed to operate in China and are blocked by the government. This is called the “Great Firewall” and it was a massive initiative from the Chinese government to regulate the use of the Internet in China through extensive legislation conducted back in 2006. Under Xi Jinping regulations have only gotten tighter and in recent months another regulatory crackdown had cut an estimated $3 trillion of market value from China’s biggest firms.
Picture Credit :Greg Bulla
LinkedIn will be replaced by a new China exclusive application called InJobs later this year. InJobs however will act as an application that will allow users the ability to list and apply for jobs only. Shroff commented that this decision was based on the low level of engagement that they received when it came to the more social features of LinkedIn in China. “While we have found success in helping Chinese members find jobs and economic opportunity, we have not found the same level of success in the more social aspects of sharing and staying informed” he commented.
This was also another reason as to why they decided it was best to pull LinkedIn out of China. Shroff commented “While we strongly support freedom of expression, we took this approach in order to create value for our customers in China and around the world”.
October 22nd 2021 | 3.10 PM