LinkedIn expands into Japan

Tokyo, Japan — October 20, 2011 — LinkedIn, the world's largest professional network with more than 120 million members worldwide, today announced that LinkedIn is now available in Japanese and has opened an office in Shibuya, Tokyo. The new Japan office will provide support for increasing awareness and adoption of LinkedIn in Japan, with a focus on member engagement and growth, product development, strategic partnerships and general operations.

LinkedIn is a professional network focused entirely on the professional workforce with members that span across more than 200 countries and territories (as of August 4, 2011). LinkedIn enables professionals to connect locally and globally to exchange knowledge, ideas and opportunities with a broader network of professionals around the world.

"Japan represents a huge opportunity for LinkedIn’s growth and engagement and we are committed to delivering the best experience for Japanese professionals," said Arvind Rajan, managing director of APAC & Japan at LinkedIn. “With the tremendous talent pool and skill sets of Japanese professionals, LinkedIn will continue to foster a powerful and global exchange of information and opportunities that will help professionals around the world become more productive and successful at what they do every day."

Features for Professionals

New LinkedIn members can access the site and create their LinkedIn Profile in Japanese by visiting http://jp.linkedin.com/. New members will be able to build and manage their professional identity online by sharing their career updates and experiences, skills and capabilities, education and recommendations by their industry peers. A LinkedIn profile is also a great way for professionals to take control of the first impression people have when they search for a person online, as the LinkedIn profile likely surfaces at the top of any Internet search results. Creating a LinkedIn profile is free and available to all professionals.

By creating a LinkedIn profile and establishing a professional network, professionals will have direct access to communicate and collaborate with other LinkedIn members, such as colleagues, business partners, clients, and alumni to share important insights that will help them be more productive and successful in their jobs. Japanese members will also have access to products like Groups, where they can collaborate with industry peers in Japan and around the world to solve problems or share important best practices around topics and issues of interest.

Products such as the Homepage and LinkedIn Signal can also help professionals gather rich insights about what professionals are saying, commenting on, and sharing with their professional peers in real-time. Signal allows professionals to filter LinkedIn’s member updates by using search facets, such as location, company, industry and more, in order to glean just the relevant pieces of information from a constant stream of updates.

Japanese professionals will also have the option to upgrade their free account to a premium account to leverage features, such as increased InMails, and better organization of important profiles and search functions.

Features for Companies

Japanese companies have many ways to promote, market and present their organizations to millions of LinkedIn members around the world. One of the easiest ways to do this is by creating a Company Page, which is being used by more than 2 million companies worldwide today. LinkedIn’s Company Pages can be created and managed in Japanese and with its new “status update” feature, companies now have the ability to have a direct dialogue with their followers to post updates on company news, new jobs, relevant industry articles, videos and more. More than 60 Japanese companies have already created a Company Page on LinkedIn.

Features for Students and New Professionals

Millions of students today are using LinkedIn around the world to build their professional identity and network, to help achieve their career goals by connecting with established professionals who can provide insights into relevant internship, job or business opportunities. Students can connect to fellow students to learn more about where they’ve landed jobs, reach out to alumni for advice and counsel, and leverage the networks of their parents, family, friends or mentors to get a head start on their career planning. Students can also gather important information about companies and industries using products like Groups, Signal and Company Pages to glean important information that can help them make better decisions about their career choices.

About LinkedIn
Founded in 2003, LinkedIn connects the world's professionals to make them more productive and successful. With more than 120 million members worldwide, including executives from every Fortune 500 company, LinkedIn is the world's largest professional network on the Internet. The company has a diversified business model with revenue coming from member subscriptions, marketing solutions and hiring solutions. Headquartered in Silicon Valley, LinkedIn also has offices across North America, as well as throughout Europe, Asia and Australia.