LinkedIn is an American employment-oriented and professional networking platform. Reid Hoffman was the founder of LinkedIn and he established the platform on May 5, 2003. It went under the ownership of Microsoft in December 2016. The company headquarters is in California, USA.
The total number of users of LinkedIn is 800 million as of 2021, and the monthly active users are 310 million. The professional networking platform is operational in over 200 countries across the globe. However, over 16000 people are working for the platform to make it functional.
According to an estimate, LinkedIn’s annual revenue was $10 billion in 2021, and the platform’s net income was $159.2 million after excluding all the expenses.
Potential employers post jobs and vacancies on the platform, and job hunters apply for it relevant to their post and connect with the employer on LinkedIn. Recruiters also search for the required talents on the platform by using various filters.
Our topic for discussion is LinkedIn swot analysis. We’re going to focus on the internal strengths/weaknesses, potential opportunities, and external threats to the professional networking platform. Here’s the LinkedIn swot analysis as follows;
Table of Contents
Strengths of LinkedIn
Some of the main strengths are as follows;
Popular Platform
Out of all the business and professional networking platforms, LinkedIn is at the top of the list. The company has done a lot of work in establishing the image and a strong user database. The platform has successfully maintained a difference from other social media platforms.
Filtered Searches
Search filters are one of the key features for the popularity of LinkedIn among recruiters and talent hunters. They use various filters even to the narrowest level to find the required talent in the specific area in the particular skill, expertise, or field. However, the filter search option isn’t available on other social media platforms.
LinkedIn Profile
The LinkedIn profile acts as your professional portfolio like a resume. After completing the profile by putting all the details in it, the professionals in your network could post reviews about you and endorse your skills and expertise. It would help you to optimize your profile for the searches.
Professional Activity
Speaking LinkedIn profile optimization, the key element in establishing professional activity in terms of posting content relevant to your field of expertise. It allows you to create an image of yourself as a professional that this is your area of expertise.
Promotional Platform
As we know LinkedIn is a professional business platform, and it allows young professionals and entrepreneurs to share the products, services, business, and expertise for promotion. They can do so without paying anything.
Active Users
According to a statistical report, the monthly active users of LinkedIn are more than 310 million people, and the total is 800 million. The growth rate of the platform is tremendous, and the upcoming users are further contributing to the success of the platform.
Parent Brand
Microsoft falls under the category of the world’s leading tech companies, and the purchase of LinkedIn by Microsoft is beneficial for the business platform in many ways. It would offer the business platform tech support, financial assistance, and sharing of knowledge, skills, and expertise. That’s why the total number of users of LinkedIn got doubled ever since its acquisition.
Weaknesses of LinkedIn
Inappropriate Behavior
There is a clear differentiation between social media platforms and professional networking business platforms. Some people don’t get this difference, and they keep on posting irrelevant content and flirting with other professionals. However, their presence on LinkedIn made it difficult for serious users.
Fake Users
Millions of people use the platform for various reasons like job hunting, talent hunting, promotion, endorsement, promotion of products or business, or something. You can write in your profile whatever you want, and there’s no check and control mechanism to confirm one’s record. For instance, a person you thought a business professional turned out to be a scammer.
Privacy Issues
LinkedIn had a security breach back in 2012, and hackers stole the data of millions of users. The professional business platform settled the lawsuit in 2014 by paying 1.25 million dollars to the victims. The whole event created an atmosphere of distrust on the platform.
Limited Diversification
Google, Apple, and Disney have become conglomerates and diversified their business to various areas, and succeeded in their sub-categories. On the other hand, LinkedIn is still relying on professional networking business services, and that’s it. It’s good, but it’s highly risky.
Opportunities For LinkedIn
Alliance with Mobile companies
800 million users of LinkedIn is a huge database of the platform, and they’re spread over 200 countries and regions worldwide. If we compare its users with other platforms like Facebook, Google, and others, then it’s a much smaller and limited platform. The platform should make an alliance with smartphone manufacturing companies to embed its application built-in.
Global Expansion
The global economic recession has amplified the unemployment rate to a great extent. It has become a solid reason to join the platform. It’s benefiting the platform in two ways; first, it’s increasing the total number of users, and secondly helping people to get jobs.
Audio/Video Calls
The messaging box of LinkedIn doesn’t offer the feature of audio/video calls. It means that the users have to conduct the meeting or the interview on any other platform. If LinkedIn has the feature of audio/video calling, then the users don’t have to leave the platform. It would further secure and strengthen the platform by launching this feature.
Threats To LinkedIn
Privacy Issues
Hackers have already breached the platform once due to limited security. They can do it again and break the platform’s advanced firewall. Therefore, the company should further strengthen the security of the platform and make it invincible. It’s because the users have become very conscious about their data security in recent years.
Government Policies
Government institutions have been launching new laws and regulations against the platforms to protect the data privacy of ordinary users. We can say that the income source of LinkedIn is selling job hunters’ information to potential employers. It could fall under the category of data privacy issues in the upcoming laws. The platform should clarify its position and role to the public at large.
Competitors
Jobcase, Atletico, Monster, ZipRecruiter, LetsLunch, and Indeed are some of the main competitors of LinkedIn. Their presence in the market has made it difficult for the professional networking platform to attract new users and maintain the interest of existing users.
