LinkedIn passes one million members in Belgium

Almost 25% of the working population now members1

Government administration second most popular industry

Brussels, Belgium — LinkedIn, the world’s largest professional network with more than 120 million members worldwide, today announced more than one million professional members in Belgium.

Ariel Eckstein, Managing Director of LinkedIn EMEA, described the membership milestone for the country at the centre of Europe’s economic and political engine.

“Belgium represents a strategic market for LinkedIn; both politically and economically. The presence of governmental and non-governmental organizations, together with the European headquarters of a significant number of multinationals means that networking is absolutely second nature to professionals in Belgium,” said Eckstein.

The one million Belgian professionals on LinkedIn form part of a community of over 26 million Europeans using the network to establish their professional identity, connect with their network of trusted contacts, and access business knowledge and opportunities. Eckstein explained that LinkedIn’s massive global reach is particularly compelling for professionals in Belgium looking for business contacts and expertise beyond their borders.

“Foreign employees represent around 11% of Belgium’s working population2 , contributing towards a business outlook that is genuinely collaborative and international,” added Eckstein.

LinkedIn has a growing business in Belgium delivering high impact advertising and marketing solutions to educated, affluent and influential professionals. The company offers rich profile based targeting that enables advertisers such as Volvo and HP to engage with very specific audiences in a relevant business context.

Belgian employers including Agfa Healthcare Group, Belgacom and KBC are utilizing LinkedIn’s Hiring Solutions to identify and recruit top talent in Belgium. 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.

“A large company such as Agfa is continuously looking to hire promising talent. However, more recently, we wanted to address the labour market in a more active way,” explained Annelies Daenen, Global Talent Acquisition Manager at the Agfa Group. “When it comes to executive level search, we are using LinkedIn to identify the best talent whether or not they are currently searching for a new role. Using LinkedIn we expect to dramatically reduce the time and cost of mapping executive vacancies to our recruitment needs.

” Today’s announcement followed a series of recent milestones for LinkedIn in Europe including the opening of local offices in Germany and the Nordics and local language versions released in Romanian, Russian, Turkish.

Belgium joins a number of other European countries which have passed significant milestones in terms of LinkedIn membership, including the UK (6m), France (2m), the Netherlands (2m), Italy (2m), the DACH region (2m) and Spain (2m).

LinkedIn maintains a “freemium” business model enabling members to easily establish their online professional identity, connect with their network of trusted contacts, gain access to business insights and expertise, make recommendations, follow and find information on companies, participate in discussions and industry groups, exchange references, and track and share news, absolutely free of charge.

1Source : http://laborsta.ilo.org/STP/guest

2Source: http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2874.htm


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Notes to editors

Top five companies currently represented in Belgium:

• European Commission

• BNP Paribas Fortis

• K.U. Leuven and Ghent University

• Belgacom

• KBC Bank & Verzekering

Top three industries in Belgium by LinkedIn members:

• IT

• Government

• Banking and Financial Services

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.