LinkedIn Reaches 500 Million Users, Up 7% in Five Months

LinkedIn announced this week that the company has reached 500 million members. The social network last offered a member count in October 2016, which was 467 million.

LinkedIn, whose members span 200 countries, also revealed some insight on its members. For example, the most-connected countries include the United Arab Emirates, the Netherlands, and Singapore, while the most-connected places include London, San Francisco, and Milan.

In terms of industries, the most-connected are staffing and recruiting, venture capital, and human resources. And highly connected job functions include product management, business development, and marketing.

“The impact of half a billion professionals connecting and communicating is very real, and very accessible to anyone who wants to take part today,” said LinkedIn’s AtifAwan. “We’re excited to think about the potential of what a highly connected global community of professionals can do, and the value that is created for every member of the global workforce.”

Since being acquired by Microsoft last year, LinkedIn has shifted more toward social networking. Last month month the company Trending Storylines, which LinkedIn describes as “daily curated interest-based feeds about the most important developing stories in your industry.”