LinkedIn adds Hindi support to expand its reach in India

Microsoft-owned professional networking platform LinkedIn has added support for Hindi, marking its first Indian language rollout in the country.

Following this rollout, members will be able to access their feed, profile, jobs, messaging, and create content in Hindi on desktop, and on their Android and iOS smartphones. It is currently available to all members on desktop and Android, and will gradually roll out to all iOS users in the coming days. With this, LinkedIn now supports 25 languages across the world.

LinkedIn noted that this is the first phase of the language rollout and in the next phase, it will work towards widening the range of job opportunities available for Hindi speaking professionals across industries, including banking, and government jobs on the platform. The firm will also add more Hindi publishers and creators in the coming weeks in a bid to boost member engagement and conversations in Hindi, LinkedIn said in a statement.

"In India, LinkedIn has been mission critical to helping people connect, learn, grow and get hired during the pandemic and in this new world of work we are in. With the launch of Hindi, now more members and customers can unlock greater value from the platform through content, jobs, and networking, and express themselves in a language that they feel comfortable in" said Ashutosh Gupta, India Country Manager, LinkedIn.

India is the second largest market for LinkedIn after the United States with 82 million members in the country, registering a 15% year-over-year growth. Overall, LinkedIn has 800 million members.

"We have witnessed high engagement and member growth in the last year, and it is at this exciting inflection point that we are strengthening our vision to create economic opportunity for ‘every’ member of the workforce, and taking down language barriers for Hindi speakers across the world," Gupta said.

Users will have to select Hindi as their preferred device language in their phone settings to access the Hindi version. For members who are using Hindi as their preferred language on their smartphones, the LinkedIn experience will automatically be available in Hindi, the company said.

While the posts in the user's home feed will be shown in the language that they were originally created in, they can view the Hindi translations of the respective posts by using the 'See Translation' option.

Members will also be able to create their LinkedIn profile in Hindi, making it easier for Hindi speaking members and recruiters to find them for relevant opportunities. Those with existing English profiles will be able to add a second language profile in Hindi, currently available only on the desktop version.