Technology in the professional industry has changed workforce dynamics by making it easier to find jobs, network with others, and have more control over one’s career. While there have been many positive developments, this has also enabled the emergence of centralized platforms that own and control user data.
LinkedIn, Upwork, Glassdoor and many other companies are directly incentivized to restrict users access to their own data as a mechanism for creating dependency among their user base and reducing the threat of competition. This isn’t a problem with one specific company, but a $200 billion industry-wide systematic issue.
Why is this a problem? Users spend years building value on platforms in the form of work experiences, connections, recommendations, reputations and histories. Despite being the creator and contributor of your professional data, these hard earned efforts are now confined to one platform, as it is not possible to transfer this data and value. This is due to platform restrictions in an effort to control user data. Your data should not be controlled or owned by any one entity.
As a result the industry provides fragmented experiences and the internet becomes less connected.
Example 1: a user spends years on LinkedIn accumulating connections, endorsements, recommendations and other history. This person would like to try a new platform, and because they are unable to transfer their data with them, they must start from zero, again. LinkedIn can decide to increase prices, restrict features, productize others, and make any changes they wish, while forcing you to comply.
Example 2: a freelancer spends years on Upwork completing projects successfully to receive positive reviews, which are essential for getting consistent work. As a result, this freelancer is confined to Upwork and forced to pay high project fees when policies change. If the freelancer wants to try to get work on a new platform, they start over and their income is negatively impacted.
Why is this your information not transferable? It’s in the best interest of these companies to control your data and make you dependent.
In previous years, LinkedIn provided a public API which allowed users to transfer their data to other applications. As a result 30,000 applications integrated, many large companies were born, and industry innovation flourished. In 2015, LinkedIn abruptly restricted API access and as a result many companies died and innovation slowed — the result of centralized power.
This was a small example of what a connected internet could be, but it was limited and barely scratched the surface of potential innovation.