LinkedIn Workforce Report | United States | January 2022

Over 180 million workers in the U.S. have LinkedIn profiles; over 97,000 companies in the U.S. use LinkedIn to recruit and members can add over 38,000 skills to their profiles to showcase their professional brands. That gives us unique and valuable insight into U.S. workforce trends.

This LinkedIn Workforce Report is a monthly report on employment trends in the U.S. workforce. It’s divided into two sections: a National section that provides insights into hiring and migration trends across the country, and a City section that provides insights into localized employment trends in 20 of the largest U.S. metro areas: Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland-Akron, Dallas-Ft. Worth, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami-Ft. Lauderdale, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Nashville, New York City, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle, St. Louis, and Washington, D.C.

Our vision is to create economic opportunity for every member of the global workforce. Whether you’re a worker, an employer, a new grad, or a policymaker, we hope you’ll use these insights to better understand and navigate the dynamics of today’s economy.

Key Insights

  • December hiring slows after a strong November: Nationally, across all industries, hiring in the U.S. was 7% lower in December 2021 compared to last month. National hiring was also 0.7% below pre-COVID (February 2020) levels. Since the strong economic rebound in early 2021, hiring has been largely zig-zagging up and down without following a clear trend. Omicron’s impact is not making a noticeable dent just yet, but could impact January hiring numbers. 

  • Arts continues to recover from pandemic lows: The industries with the most notable hiring shifts month-to-month were Arts (1.5% higher), Recreation & Travel (0.7% higher), and Retail (0.4% higher).The industries with the strongest hiring rates relative to pre-COVID levels were Recreation & Travel (38.2% higher), Software & IT Services (29.8% higher), and Corporate Services (21.8% higher). These are the industries experiencing “talent crunches” most acutely as the economy continues to reopen and expand.

  • Cleveland, Austin, and Denver experienced strong hiring up from pre-COVID levels: 17 of the 20 metros we track were hiring above pre-COVID levels, down from 20 of 20 in November. The metro areas experiencing the strongest hiring rates relative to pre-COVID levels were Cleveland (10.6% higher), Austin (10.5% higher) and Denver (9.1% higher). Miami fell off the list of top five strongest metros as other cities start to make up ground with hiring rebounds.

Hiring

The LinkedIn hiring rate is a measure of hires divided by LinkedIn membership. Nationally, across all industries, hiring in the U.S. was 7% lower in December compared to last month November 2021. National hiring was 14.6% higher in December compared to last year December 2020.

The industries with the most notable hiring shifts month-to-month in December were Arts (1.5% higher); Recreation & Travel (0.7% higher); and Retail (0.4% higher).

Table 1: Hiring on LinkedIn, by Industry, through December 2021

Industry

Dec-20

···

Sep-21

Oct-21

Nov-21

Dec-21

MoM% Change

YoY% Change

Agriculture

1.26

···

1.14

1.29

1.47

1.19

-19.1

-5.6

Arts

0.68

···

0.86

0.88

1.00

1.01

+1.5

+49.1

Construction

1.12

···

1.18

1.19

1.31

1.21

-7.6

+8.4

Consumer Goods

0.98

···

1.12

1.14

1.15

1.15

+0.1

+17.5

Corporate Services

1.13

···

1.30

1.35

1.51

1.41

-6.7

+25.1

Design

0.82

···

1.01

1.02

1.14

1.06

-6.8

+29.1

Education

1.02

···

1.08

1.16

1.32

1.29

-2.5

+26.3

Energy & Mining

0.94

···

1.04

1.09

1.15

1.14

-1

+21.9

Entertainment

0.77

···

1.02

1.06

1.09

1.08

-1.2

+41.2

Finance

1.11

···

1.29

1.37

1.44

1.44

+0.2

+30.3

Hardware & Networking

0.88

···

1.03

1.01

1.09

1.05

-3.6

+19.8

Health Care

1.19

···

1.31

1.30

1.38

1.28

-7.4

+7.8

Legal

0.97

···

1.08

1.10

1.15

1.11

-3.7

+13.5

Manufacturing

1.06

···

1.18

1.20

1.28

1.22

-4.6

+15.7

Media & Communications

0.96

···

1.06

1.04

1.20

1.13

-5.6

+18.2

Nonprofit

1.01

···

1.10

1.11

1.12

1.11

-0.6

+10.5

Public Administration

1.14

···

1.10

1.13

1.22

1.18

-3.3

+3.6

Public Safety

1.07

···

0.97

1.05

1.08

1.08

-0.6

+0.8

Real Estate

1.27

···

1.28

1.25

1.35

1.27

-5.7

0

Recreation & Travel

0.74

···

1.15

1.16

1.15

1.16

+0.7

+55.6

Retail

1.06

···

1.07

1.05

1.08

1.09

+0.4

+2.6

Software & IT Services

1.17

···

1.51

1.55

1.73

1.62

-6.5

+38.3

Transportation & Logistics

1.21

···

1.41

1.37

1.47

1.33

-9.7

+10.2

Wellness & Fitness

1.22

···

1.28

1.30

1.35

1.34

-1.3

+9.3

Methodology: “Hiring Rate” is the count of hires (LinkedIn members in each industry who added a new employer to their profile in the same month the new job began), divided by the total number of LinkedIn members in the U.S. By only analyzing the timeliest data, we can make accurate month-to-month comparisons and account for any potential lags in members updating their profiles. This number is indexed to the average month in 2016 for each industry; for example, an index of 1.05 indicates a hiring rate that is 5% higher than the average month in 2016.

Migration

The U.S. cities losing the most people are College Station-Bryan, TX; State College-DuBois, PA; and Tuscaloosa, AL. For every 10,000 LinkedIn members in College Station-Bryan, TX, 228 left in the past 12 months.

 

The U.S. cities gaining the most people are Austin, TX; North Port-Sarasota, FL; and Nashville, TN. For every 10,000 LinkedIn members in Austin, TX, 144 arrived in the last 12 months.

Check out our reports for Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland-Akron, Dallas-Ft. Worth, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami-Ft. Lauderdale, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Nashville, New York City, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle, St. Louis, and Washington, D.C., to see which jobs are open.

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