LinkedIn’s online learning platform launched about a month ago, and already several major companies are reporting successes by incentivizing employees to take advantage of the social site’s educational offerings. LinkedIn Learning takes content from Lynda.com and combines it with the professional data and networks of the more than 450 million LinkedIn users. The courses are free to Premium subscribers for individuals and an enterprise version will be available soon, according to company materials. "From this, we can identify the skills you need and deliver expert-led courses to help you obtain those skills," a LinkedIn spokesperson said. "We're taking the guesswork out of learning." Elliot Masie, chair of the Learning Consortium, says this was the natural direction for LinkedIn after it acquired Lynda in 2015. "There's an enormous desire for two things that often seem contradictory: How do we get our employees to be smart, deep learners and how do we do it by disrupting them as little as possible?" Masie said. "Many groups do this type of thing, but LinkedIn may have the advantage that people look to them not only for today's job but for tomorrow's job. It's got a potential appeal to the employee that could incentivize participation."