Microsoft has decided to shut operations of LinkedIn in China. The company is shutting down the career-oriented social network citing regulatory hurdles. The decision comes as Beijing is tightening control over tech firms in the country. LinkedIn will be replaced with an application dedicated to applying for jobs. Microsoft’s senior vice president of engineering Mohak Shroff said that the application would be without the networking feature. “We are facing a lot of challenges while operating in China and things have complicated of late because of greater compliance requirements,” Shroff said. There are several instances of tech companies facing clamps in the country.
According to reports, LinkedIn was asked to better oversee content on the platform. Chinese internet regulators have also given a deadline to do so. It was in 2014 when LinkedIn was launched in China. The platform is used by millions of professionals to build relationships and find better jobs. The decision by the Seattle-headquartered company said the application it is going to launch in China will be known as ‘InJobs.’ This app will help professionals in China to connect with companies seeking employees. It remains to see how people will accept the new app. It is pertinent to mention that the decision came as several homegrown tech giants continue to face mounting pressure from Chinese regulators.
However, LinkedIn is not the first social media platform to face such challenges. There are several other companies that had to leave China because of government regulations. China has already blocked Facebook and Twitter. These social media platforms are not been operations in the country for more than a decade now. Google too left China over 10 years ago. Google took the decision to leave the country almost 10 years ago. The website of e-commerce is accessible in the country but the e-commerce market is dominated by local players. Alibaba and JD.com are some of the prominent e-commerce websites. Microsoft bought LinkedIn for USD 26 billion.
Carolyn is a technology graduate and loves to write about anything related to technology as well as writes in others sectors. Carolyn is a professional writer with over 7 years of experience. Initially starting off as a programmer, Carolyn decided to combine her knowledge about technology and writing and that’s how she joined Reporter Expert.
