LinkedIn opens sales office in France as research shows half of French professionals look to change jobs in 2011

Published on Mar 15, 2011 Categories: EMEA

Paris – March 15th – 2011 – LinkedIn, the world’s largest professional network with more than 90 million members worldwide, today further demonstrated its commitment to global expansion by the opening of a sales office in France. Located in central Paris, the new team will offer local support to the growing number of French companies who use the LinkedIn platform to market to and recruit from its professional audience.

LinkedIn currently has European offices in London, Amsterdam, Dublin and now Paris. This latest step in LinkedIn’s expansion follows widespread adoption of the site as the professional network for people across Europe. More than 20 million European professionals are now establishing their online professional identity, networking with their peers, accessing business insights and discovering new opportunities wherever they are.

In January 2011, the number of French professionals on LinkedIn passed the two million mark. An exclusive IPSOS study commissioned by LinkedIn in February 2011 found 50 percent of French professionals intend to change their job in 2011.

LinkedIn also confirmed the appointment of Laurence Bret-Stern as marketing director for EMEA. Based in the new Paris office, she will be responsible for driving awareness of LinkedIn among professionals, brands and recruiters. She joins LinkedIn from AOL, where she led the company’s marketing efforts across Europe.

Commenting on the announcement, Miss Bret-Stern said, “LinkedIn is a global network and is becoming a global business. We understand that to grow a worldwide network for professionals, you need to be local and relevant to them at home. That’s why we launched the LinkedIn site in French in 2008 and why we’re committing to a presence in Paris now. This is an important step for us as we continue to expand our business in Europe, the Middle East and Africa in 2011 and beyond.”

Bret Stern added, ‘The French have a strong appetite for networking. Our research also shows that 84% of professionals look to their networks to make making their professional goals happen.’

Notes to editors

Research commissioned by LinkedIn was carried about by Ipsos MORI in February 2011 among 809 professionals in France. Of those asked, 22 percent stated they wanted to change jobs in the same company and 28 percent that they wanted to change companies in 2011. 67 percent said they hoped to change their job within five years. 84 percent said they find networks useful to essential in making their professional objectives happen.
Companies including Société Générale, Lafarge and L’Oreal use LinkedIn’s Hiring Solutions software tools to target to the best candidates, filtering by location, industry, skills, experience and qualifications. They join 69 percent of Fortune 100 companies already using LinkedIn to source talent.
Brands such as BNP Paribas, Accor, SNCF and HP use LinkedIn’s Marketing Solutions tools to engage with the network’s audience of affluent, educated and influential professionals through a range of tools from display advertising to innovative engagement-focused products, such as LinkedIn Groups and Company Pages.
To date, 17 of the CAC 40 use LinkedIn’s marketing or recruitment tools.
To illustrate how professional change can be facilitated by LinkedIn, the company is launching a new campaign across the site in France called “Make it Happen”, showcasing professionals who achieved their professional goals through LinkedIn. In addition to English and French, LinkedIn is currently available in German, Italian, Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese.

About LinkedIn
LinkedIn operates the world's largest professional network on the Internet with over 90 million members in over 200 countries and territories. The LinkedIn website launched in 2003 and currently counts executives from all Fortune 500 companies as members. The company is privately-held and has a diversified business model with revenues coming from user subscriptions, advertising sales and hiring solutions. LinkedIn is headquartered in Mountain View, California.