Facebook testing job listings feature

SAN FRANCISCO — Facebook says it's testing a feature that would let Facebook pages advertise open positions and accept applications from job candidates, moving in on LinkedIn's recruiting business.

"Based on behavior we've seen on Facebook, where many small businesses post about their job openings on their Page, we're running a test for Page admins to create job postings and receive applications from candidates," Facebook said in an emailed statement.

Small businesses are a driving force behind the growth of advertisers on Facebook. Facebook said in September it had reached 4 million advertisers, many of them small and midsized businesses.

LinkedIn did not respond to a request for comment.

A job-listings feature from Facebook, which has 1.79 billion users around the world, could encroach on LinkedIn, which has 467 million members and which in June agreed to be acquired by Microsoft for $26.2 billion.

Facebook told technology news service TechCrunch that it's experimenting with a number of recruiting features.

TechCrunch first reported the news on Monday.