LinkedIn analytics help deepen and enrich European labour market policymaking

LinkedIn analytics help deepen and enrich European labour market policymaking

All forms of economic opportunity depend on information– which crops to grow, which businesses to invest in, which prices to charge. And information is equally vital for the most important form of economic opportunity on the planet: the ability of people to find work, to be productive and to feel fulfilled.

When knowledge of the changing world of work is incomplete or outdated, people are left with the skills they needed yesterday rather than the skills they need for today and for tomorrow. They are cut off from opportunity in one area when they could be prospering in another. The good news is that there now exists a robust, complete and real-time source of insights to help change this. It’s called LinkedIn’s Economic Graph.

Introducing the LinkedIn Economic Graph Forum

The Economic Graph is LinkedIn’s growing digital map of the global labour force, which connects 560 million members, 50 thousand skills, 20 million companies, 15 million open jobs, and 60 thousand places of learning. It binds together the skills that people have or can learn, with the skills that are in demand in different locations. This anonymised, aggregated data can drive investment programmes, development strategies and educational outcomes to unlock the real strengths of cities and regions, and deliver greater prosperity for citizens. In fact, it’s already doing so.

On May 22 in Brussels, we’ll be gathering together policymakers and other key stakeholders for the first LinkedIn Economic Graph Forum: a high-level debate on the future of work and skills needs. The event will also showcase concrete examples of how cities and regions in the EU have been reacting to recent labour market changes and training their workforce to ensure they obtain the skills they need to work in tomorrow’s economy.

From Amsterdam to Milan, Brussels to Stockholm, Hauts-de-France to Manchester, LinkedIn insights are enabling a greater understanding of skills gaps, hiring trends, migration patterns barriers to opportunity and measures that can overcome them. They are informing the infrastructure that cities and regions need to cope with a rapidly evolving economy: a world shaped by new industries, new skills, a new approach to lifelong learning, and new types of relationships between professionals and their employers.

Where LinkedIn insights are driving opportunity

To give you a better idea about what the Economic Graph can do in practice, here’s a quick snapshot of some of the exciting collaborations we have put in place over the past couple of years:

• We mapped the economy of Brussels, revealing how the city’s position as a centre of government has driven a dynamic start-up culture and broader economic opportunity. Working with the Digital Belgium Skills Fund launched by Deputy Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, the LinkedIn Economic Graph is helping to identify the digital skills that support this transformation, and fill skills gaps as they emerge.

• In France, the Conseil d’Orientation pour l’Emploi is using LinkedIn insights to assess the changes in demand tech skills, and how the workforce can adapt. Our Economic Graph for the Hauts-de-France region is identifying hidden strengths and potential of the region with the highest unemployment rate in France – and focusing attention on the areas most likely to drive future economic growth.

• In the UK, our hiring data is powering the monthly LinkedIn Workforce Reports that provide vital insight on the availability of jobs and talent in different regions and sectors, and crucial early indicators of the likely impact of Brexit. LinkedIn data is driving city-wide strategies to build much-needed skills, from the Mayor of London’s £7m digital talent programme to a Skills Action Plan with the City of Manchester.

• LinkedIn’s Economic Graph for Amsterdam took a deep-dive into the local start-up ecosystem and has helped to identify the inherently entrepreneurial nature of the city’s economy, and the skills and sectors contributing most to growth. In doing so, it’s helping to inform strategies for supporting the growth and internationalisation of the start-up scene.

• Worldwide, LinkedIn is partnering with the Word Economic Forum to map important trends in human capital, including whether education systems are providing young people with the skills they need to succeed. Our insights also support the World Economic Forum’s Global gender Gap Report, the leading global study of gender equality, which recently highlighted how the gender gap is widening for the first time in 11 years.

Translating labour market insight into effective policy

Because LinkedIn insights are generated in real-time, they provide valuable early indicators of changes to local economies and labour markets – and empower policymakers to respond. The granular nature of the data supports investment programmes and education and skills strategies that are tailored to real-world, on-the-ground opportunities and challenges. One of the great strengths of the Economic Graph is the way that it identifies key regional differences. This helps to develop differentiated strategies and highlight the most relevant future opportunities for governments to focus on.

The collaborations we have highlighted here are just the beginning of the Economic Graph story, and we will continue to build partnerships across Europe and use our insights to support policy-making and develop ways to connect talent with opportunity. Watch this space!