LinkedIn is attracting more and more Israelis. Formerly used primarily as a means of creating links between people, it is becoming increasingly dominant among both Israelis and Israeli companies.
1.2 million Israelis are registered with LinkedIn, 62% of whom are male. A breakdown by age shows that the leading age bracket is 25-34, accounting for 40% of all Israeli users, while the 55+ age bracket accounts for only 7% of all Israeli users.
LinkedIn's penetration in Israel is still in the relatively early stages, as can be seen by the occupations of the users and the prevalence of the high-tech and technology industries. The leading field is engineers, who account for 14% of LinkedIn users, followed by entrepreneurs and IT personnel (10% each), maintenance and sales (6% each), training/learning and research (5% each), and communications, marketing, design, and project managers (4% each).
Analysis by HRD Employment Consultants shows that 33% of Israeli LinkedIn users are young junior employees, compared with 25% experienced employees. The analysis further shows that 16% are executives and CEOs, while 9% are owners. Numerically, 49,000 Israeli CEOs, deputy CEOs, and company directors are registered with LinkedIn. 8,300 Israeli recruitment and human resources personnel are registered, as are 3,400 CFOs and 4,800 IT managers.
HRD's survey also sheds light on employees' loyalty to their workplace, and on the character of movement by Israeli employees between jobs and enterprises. 28% of employees have been at the place of work for one-two years, while 17% have been there for two or more years. The ratio in staying at the same job is similar. At the same time, 40% of Israeli LinkedIn users have 10 or more years of experience in their field, while 3% have up to one year of experience.
Intel Israel has 6,865 employees registered with LinkedIn, making it the leading Israeli company in this respect, followed by Amdocs Ltd. (Nasdaq: DOX) (4,926), HP Israel (3,750), Elbit Systems Ltd. (Nasdaq: ESLT; TASE: ESLT) (3,386), Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NYSE: TEVA; TASE: TEVA) (3,104), and IBM Israel (2.066).
LinkedIn's growing popularity in Israel is also having an effect on the company itself that operates this social-business network. Last month, for the first time, LinkedIn followed the examples of Facebook and Twitter by appointing a special sales manager, Tzur Schreibman, in the company offices in Dublin, Ireland for the Israeli market; he works with local companies and businesses with media budgets of $15,000 or more (Facebook now has its own sales office in Israel). At the same time, the company's entry into the Israeli market is still low-key, and it will take time before real movement is seen among the advertisers.
Actually, the Israeli advertisers on LinkedIn, who focus on advertising their businesses to other businesses (B2B), among other things, still must face an acute problem: they are unable to advertise in Hebrew. In a conversation with "Globes,"Z Digital advertising agency founder and CEO Ziv Sheinfeld explains, "Officially, it's impossible to advertise on LinkedIn in Hebrew, because the company will not approve it. If it works, it's a successful method, and there are several examples of an advertisement in Hebrew, but as soon as you increase the advertising budget for such a campaign, something I have done for one of my clients, LinkedIn may find out and block the campaign."
There may be room for cautious optimism, however. Last week, LinkedIn presented for the first time an interface in Arabic for its network, which could soon lead to good news for Hebrew speakers. The reason for optimism is the fact that the interface decoder for Arabic is far beyond a basic translation of the menus and possibilities. It justifies the text to the right a problem that Hebrew speakers also have to cope with.
At the same time, patience is still necessary. LinkedIn regards Arabic speakers as a more desirable target audience, if only because of their number: 347 million Arabic speakers versus 1.2 million Hebrew speakers. Still, even without Hebrew, the launching of Arabic has given Israelis the possibility of sending messages from right to left - not big news, but a step in the direction of allowing Hebrew advertising and making the service accessible to additional audiences through translation of the menu and interfaces into Hebrew, which would add to LinkedIn's already existing momentum in Israel.
Sheinfeld attributes the awakening of the local market to a change instituted by LinkedIn in its user interface and the addition of pictures, which make the social network far friendlier for Israelis. He says, "The market is beginning to mature, and more Israelis are discovering LinkedIn and the services that it makes possible," adding that by the end of the year, he believes that LinkedIn will already have 1.5 million users. That is still a long way from the 4.2 million Israeli active every month on Facebook. In a world in which every social network has a different purpose and a different target audience, it is by no means sure that LinkedIn can close the gap, and in truth, perhaps it does not need to do so. At the same time, its entry into Israel - for now by the back door through a special sales representative - is a declaration of intent for the future.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on February 22, 2015
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