LinkedIn, one of the few Western internet companies with a large footprint in China, saw a major setback there this week when it removed its individual job-posting function under pressure from authorities.
New government regulations imposed after a wave of pyramid schemes resulted in a string of suicides require job-posting sites to verify the identities of supposed employers. The Chinese government has been following up with audits of job-posting sites, said an anonymous source with knowledge of the situation, which presumably makes skirting the regulations much more difficult.
In a statement, LinkedIn said that companies were still permitted to post job ads but it wasn’t clear if or when the job-posting feature would return.
Previous reporting by noted that the company survives in China largely by being willing to bend to censors’ requirements, like restricting the ability of users to freely associate on the site or limiting topics of discussion. LinkedIn also has financial relationships with Chinese venture capital firms, which potentially works as a valuable liaison between them and authorities.
LinkedIn, one of the few Western internet companies with a large footprint in China, saw a major setback there this week when it removed its individual job-posting function under pressure from authorities.
In a statement, LinkedIn said that companies were still permitted to post job ads but it wasn’t clear if or when the job-posting feature would return.
Previous reporting by noted that the company survives in China largely by being willing to bend to censors’ requirements, like restricting the ability of users to freely associate on the site or limiting topics of discussion. LinkedIn also has financial relationships with Chinese venture capital firms, which potentially works as a valuable liaison between them and authorities.
