Professional-networking site LinkedIn is looking to hire infrastructure engineers for operational roles at its new research and development centre which was opened here on Tuesday, the first outside its headquarters in the US.

“LinkedIn currently has 20 people in the centre and plans to have 35 by the end of this year,” Mr Ganesh Krishnan, Head, Technology Centre at LinkedIn India, said at a press conference. They will work on developing the infrastructure on which all of LinkedIn's operations work, he added. The California-based company's second largest membership is in India.

The company, 135 million strong as of Tuesday, has over 12 million subscribers from India (of which 6.6 million are active members), its fastest growing market. The country's about 85 million white-collar professionals form a potential market, Mr Hari Krishnan, Country Manager, LinkedIn India said.

The company intends to capture the entire potential market in India, he added. LinkedIn, which also offers mobile applications, could also look at mobiles to add users.

LinkedIn could become a sales channel for small and medium businesses in India, where a large number of professionals hail from tier-2 and -3 cities, and help them build brands, Mr Krishnan said.

The Web site offers services like hiring solutions where employers can list job opportunities to find prospective employees marketing solutions where companies can also be introduced to prospective customers. LinkedIn also offers a range of paid services for sales and hiring.

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