LinkedIn launches app for Chinese users, after sunsetting its old service

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(Image credit: Shutterstock / Ink Drop)

LinkedIn has announced the launch of InCareer, a new app for Chinese users, exactly two months after sunsetting the local Chinese version of LinkedIn. 

The new service aims to help users in mainland China find jobs and is available on the web and through iOS and Android apps. 

In many ways, the offering is much the same as what you’d expect from LinkedIn: plentiful jobs and ways to search for them, tools for recruiters, and messaging features. 

InCareer launch

"Today's launch of InCareer is just the beginning. Over the coming months we will build on this foundation, with feedback from our members and customers, to develop a world-class experience," wrote LinkedIn's Mohak Shroff in a blog post.

As the Covid-19 pandemic causes workplaces around the world to hire rapidly and assess whether existing employees must come into the office, Microsoft-owned LinkedIn looks  well-placed to help the next phase of working. 

InCareer does differ from the local LinkedIn version in several key ways: there is no longer a social feed or ability to share articles and posts. Users can, however, maintain a profile, which makes it somewhat like Facebook before the News Feed. While LinkedIn doesn’t elaborate as to why, the removal of the social feed is likely a key factor in being able to operate the service in China. 

In recent months, LinkedIn has made a variety of steps towards world domination — or, at least, domination of the professional networking market — including launching its worldwide Services Marketplace for freelancers and adding a Hindi option, opening the service up to over 600 million speakers globally.  

Max Slater-Robins has been writing about technology for nearly a decade at various outlets, covering the rise of the technology giants, trends in enterprise and SaaS companies, and much more besides. Originally from Suffolk, he currently lives in London and likes a good night out and walks in the countryside.