LinkedIn Corporation (NYSE:LNKD) launched an update to its job seeking service today that could help millions of unemployed Americans find work according to the company.
The announcement comes just a week after the company announced that it had hit 200 million members.
According to the company’s press release the new search service will allow users to perform deeper job searches that will allow them to find open positions in their fields by Zip code, industry and function. The service will also allow quicker access to saved searches, which means a cleaner and more user friendly experience when looking for jobs.
Users will also be able to save jobs in order to keep track of them on their main profile page, and have easier access to the “jobs you might be interested in” page that shows users jobs that might be what they’re looking for. Any increase in functionality is usually associated with an increase in engagement, a key metric for social networks.
Premium users of the LinkedIn Corporation (NYSE:LNKD) will be offered additional features including a feature that will select jobs that meet salary requirements, and access to tips on how to use the new service, improving a user’s ability to find jobs.
Shares in LinkedIn rose by a fraction today on the news. This week the company’s shares have gained more than 7 percent, compounding the large gains in the firm’s share price so far in 2013. Since the beginning of the year, the company’s shares have increased by more than 40 percent, leaving it with an astronomical P/E ratio.
The motivators of the growth in the firm’s share price so far this year was the better than expected earnings report, as well as the hitting of a milestone in the number of user and a positive outlook for the year ahead. LinkedIn Corporation is doing its best to continue growing in an economic climate that might just suit their business model.
The millions of unemployed across the Western world are searching for new and innovative ways to be competitive in the jobs market, and LinkedIn Corporation (NYSE:LNKD) has been a popular choice for skilled workers looking for the right position. A boom in unemployment means a boom in growth at the company.
The social network is a place people are turning to in the face of economic turmoil; the question is whether or not the company can continue to grow at the same rate when the recovery begins to set in. Investors trading the shares at one thousand times earnings certainly seem to think so.
