LinkedIn opens first MENA office in Dubai

Every two seconds someone registers a new account with LinkedIn, which now boasts more than 175 million members globally.

Currently serving five million Middle East and North Africa users, and approximately one million in the UAE, members in the region are already networking in over 2,000 Groups; essentially forums for dialogue, networking and recruitment.

"Having a strong local presence will help serve our members better here, ultimately making them more productive and successful," said Farhan Syed, LinkedIn's Diector of Global Sales Strategy, with supporting figures showing oil & energy and construction as the top industries by membership.

Located in Dubai's Internet City, the new team of seven will focus on sales and training initiatives for premium clients, ensuring they effectively use the website, Ali Mater, Head of Hiring Solutions, told AMEinfo.

"When we work with our premium clients we need to enhance their ability to use LinkedIn and train them to use the service the best way possible. This comes as part of being a corporate client, with price being variable depending on the customer's needs."

"We have a lot of clients already in the region, both big and small names across different industries; public sector, government, private," he added, also revealing that Mena users are as active and engaged as other regions.

"We find the same habits, and the same engagement, coming from the Europe, the US, the UAE and the rest of the Middle East-North Africa," he said, although declined to comment on how lucrative individual markets are for LinkedIn. The networking site scored $230m profit last year.

Responsible for the Arab Social Media Report, Fadi Salem, Director of the Dubai School of Government's Governance and Innovation Program shared his perspective on the importance of social media in Mena.

"The MENA region has witnessed exponential growth in social media usage, with usage trends shifting from primarily fulfilling social needs back in 2010 to political and societal usage in 2011."

"In 2012 strong growth continues, coupled with maturity and yet another shift in usage trends, where a critical mass of users now heavily relying on such social media platforms to develop new business and entrepreneurial initiatives," he explained, indicating a timely move by LinkedIn.

This latest expansion follows the opening of LinkedIn's Spanish office in March, and brings the number of LinkedIn offices in EMEA to ten, including Paris, Milan, Stockholm, London, Munich, Milan, Dublin, Amsterdam, Madrid and now Dubai.