LinkedIn India's membership crosses 100 million, second largest after US

Software & IT professionals form biggest chunk of members; management the most sought-after skill

LinkedIn, the world’s largest professional network, today announced that it has crossed 100 million members in India. With a 56 per cent growth in its member base over the last three years, India has solidified its position as the second largest market for LinkedIn globally. The US is the largest.

The largest share of members in India is from software and IT, followed by manufacturing, corporate services (consulting, accounting, and HR), finance, and education industries. 

Ashutosh Gupta, India Country Manager, LinkedIn, said, “It is heartening, and gratifying, to see our 100-million-member community in India using the platform extensively for more than jobs now – they are over-indexing on networking, messaging, and learning more than any other region globally."

He added: "With new tech advancements and newer digital opportunities on the horizon, it’s inspiring to see our country being fully engaged in skilling and upskilling, with members in India consuming twice as many learning hours on the platform when compared to members in the US.”

In 2022 alone, professionals in India spent 4.6 million hours learning on the platform, which is nearly twice the learning hours spent on LinkedIn in the US. 

To further help businesses and professionals adopt a skills-first approach to navigate uncertainty better, LinkedIn has launched the top 10 most in-demand skills required by companies, and a Workplace Learning report to reveal the priorities of learning and development (L&D) leaders in India.

As jobs and career paths become increasingly non-linear, companies in India are adopting a skills-first approach to hiring with more than 50 per cent of India’s recruiters on LinkedIn explicitly using skills data to fill their roles, which is higher than the global average of 45 per cent.

According to LinkedIn’s Workplace Learning Report, “upskilling employees” is the top priority for India’s L&D leaders, and “providing learning opportunities” is their top solution for improving retention.

This sharpened focus on skilling comes at a time when 85 per cent of L&D leaders agree that learner engagement has increased in their companies. Shedding light on the reason for this surge, findings show that the number one motivation for employees to learn is to progress towards their career goals.

This year’s list of LinkedIn’s top 10 most in-demand skills in India features a blend of business and marketing skills such as management (No. 1), communication (No. 4), and sales (No. 10); and tech skills such as software development (No. 2), SQL (No. 3), and Java (No. 5). Leadership (No. 6) and analytical skills (No. 8) also feature on the list as important soft skills needed across various job functions.

Top 10 skills in demand in India in 2023

1.  Management

2.  Software Development

3.  SQL

4.  Communication

5.  Java

6.  Leadership

7.  Engineering

8.  Analytical Skills

9.  Python (Programming Language)

10. Sales

Source: LinkedIn