Small Business

LinkedIn Booms As Unemployment Rises

By Dog Pony

Updated on: January 2, 2009 / 11:12 AM EST / MoneyWatch

LinkedIn is one of the few booming Silicon Valley startups this recession. Traffic has doubled in recent months as professionals are getting laid off. Many use the social network to find new job opportunities.

According to a USA TODAY article, "Bad news for workers is good news for LinkedIn":

The surge accelerated in early September, when murmurs of recession began to take hold and business professionals intensified their networking efforts.
Since then, LinkedIn has experienced a 14% surge in recommendations its members make about each other, an 11% increase in number of connections made between LinkedIn users, a 10% jump in invitations sent, and a 9% bump in page views.
Many of the gains have come from employees and laid-off workers in financial industries such as investment banking.

Whether you use LinkedIn to stay connected with business associates or are now networking to find another job, why not start 2009 off right and "recommend" worthy colleagues on sites like LinkedIn? You never know if you are going to need the goodwill as well in the coming months.