Facebook is doubling down on its efforts to take on LinkedIn.
The social network on Wednesday announced it’s expanding the ability to apply for local jobs directly on Facebook to over 40 more countries, including the U.K., Spain and Brazil.
Users in the U.S. and Canada have been able to see job postings on Facebook since last year. However, the company says it’s added new tools such as the ability to schedule interviews and create job posts on mobile. Job searchers can also make alerts for positions they’re looking for.
Microsoft-owned LinkedIn has more than 546 million users in more than 200 countries and territories around the world, according to its website.
“This could be a threat to LinkedIn if a generation of folks gets their first jobs through Facebook and begins to identify the platform as the go-to labor marketplace,” said Marcelo Ballvé, vice president of intelligence at research firm CB Insights.
One in four people in the U.S. said they’ve looked for or found a job via Facebook, according to a recent Morning Consult survey.
The move mostly aims to fill roles at local businesses.
“Local businesses strengthen our communities and create more than 60% of new jobs. We want to help people find those jobs and help local businesses hire the right people,” Alex Himel, vice president of local at Facebook, said in a blog post.
But according to Ballvé, it could help Facebook create a new advertising market globally, too.
“Facebook’s reach into the long-tail of small business and mom-and-pops is already significant. This gives them another way to provide a service in job listings and collect ad revenue for paid listings,” he said.
For now, Ballvé doesn’t expect Facebook’s expansion to impact LinkedIn, which largely collects ad revenue from larger employers.
