A friend who got laid off right in mid Dec was working again by mid Jan. A friend whom he had worked with before found him a position at his new company.
Personally, I think linked in only works one layer deep, ie those who have worked with you directly. And I don’t know about the rest of you, but I don’t check linked in that often.
Do you have a facebook account? I think that is where most of his friends found out he was looking for work…most people on facebook are on there daily.