LinkedIn, the world’s largest professional network, announced that its India member base has crossed the 20-million mark and has topped the Asia-Pacific region, the company said in a press release.

“While we have come of age in India, we still have a long runway to grow with our members and clients. Helping members get the most out of the LinkedIn platform remains our primary focus, and it’s exciting to see professionals in India continuing to leverage LinkedIn in multiple ways, from enhancing their professional profiles with rich media content and growing their global networks, to gaining insights for their businesses and finding career opportunities. This is helping to create economic opportunities for all,” said LinkedIn India’s Country Manager Nishant Rao.

LinkedIn India started operations in November 2009 and its business has grown by almost five times since then. The 20 million members currently account for about 9 per cent of LinkedIn’s global members (225+ million), and positions India as the second largest member country after the US (74 million members), the release said. 

India topped the Asia Pacific region, which has more than 40 million members, followed by Australia (4+ million), Indonesia (2+ million), Singapore, Malaysia and Philippines (each 1+ million).

LinkedIn released some really interesting tidbits:

Information technology services, computer software and accounting are the top three industries

Management, sales and training are the top three skills

India’s subscriber base can be compared to that of Mumbai’s total metropolitan area, and is larger than that of many countries in the world

The most in demand employers are Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys and IBM

Ganganagar, Jalandhar and Delhi-NCR are the top three locations where people love their jobs

Bollywood (1565), Yoga (4775), Cricket (2924) and Curry (231) are some interesting keywords mentioned by members in their LinkedIn profile

“The growth of our member base and clients in India over the last few years is a testament to the value we are adding to our members’ lives every single day. And that is the result of the disruptive power of the LinkedIn platform and the passion of our people,” Rao added.

LinkedIn Marketing Solutions are being used by several brands such as AMEX, Volkswagen, Wipro and HopSim to target specific audiences, build communities, and engage in conversations with these professionals using customized solutions and relevant content.  ING Vysya, HCL Technologies and WABAG are amongst the companies that are extensively using LinkedIn Talent Solutions.

Rao said, “Our clients play an incredibly important role in helping enrich the lives of our members by sponsoring / sharing relevant content that make our members more productive, and providing business & career opportunities that help make them more successful.”