LinkedIn Workforce Report | United States | March 2017

Published on Mar 7, 2017

Over 133 million workers in the U.S. have LinkedIn profiles; over 20,000 companies in the U.S. use LinkedIn to recruit; over 3 million jobs are posted on LinkedIn in the U.S. every month; and there are over 50,000 skills on LinkedIn that members can add to their profiles. That gives us unique and valuable insight into U.S. workforce trends.

The LinkedIn Workforce Report is a monthly report on employment trends in the U.S. workforce. It's divided into two sections: a U.S. section that provides insights into hiring, skills gaps, and migration trends across the country, and a City section that provides insights into localized employment trends in 10 of the largest U.S. cities: Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, New York City, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington, D.C.

At LinkedIn, our vision is to create economic opportunity for every worker. We hope they'll use insights from our report to better navigate their careers – whether they're unemployed and wondering if hiring is improving in their industry, exploring new skills to learn to make themselves more attractive to employers, or considering a move and curious which cities need their skills most.

Key Insights

January and February were the strongest consecutive months for hiring since August and September 2015 – Hiring across the U.S. was 1.4% higher in February than February 2016. Seasonally-adjusted hiring (hiring that excludes seasonal hiring variations - like companies hiring less in December due to the holiday season) was down 1.3% compared to January, but remains quite strong. Hiring in the oil and energy industry continued to rebound in February. Seasonally-adjusted hiring has risen by a whopping 51% since June 2016, which was the low point of the industry's recession. On a related note, hiring in Houston is the strongest it has been in over two years –– it's up 24% since September 2016. If you’re looking for a new gig, check out LinkedIn Jobs!
Workers continue to move from the rust belt to the sun and rain belts – Atlanta, Dallas, and Houston are gaining lots of workers from Chicago and New York City. But all of these cities are losing workers to Seattle and Denver, which are gaining workers in spades. We consider this trend as an extension of the "rust belt to sun belt" migration we've been experiencing since the 1960s; but we may need to rename the trend the "rust belt to sun and rain belts" to include the Pacific Northwest. If you're interested in moving to Atlanta, Dallas, Houston or Seattle, check out their City Reports to see if you have the skills employers in those cities need most. If you do, take a look at their open jobs. If you don't, the City Reports feature LinkedIn Learning courses that will help you learn the most in-demand skills
Big cities need more teachers, doctors, and nurses – We track skills gaps (a mismatch between the skills employers need - demand - and the skills workers have - supply) in 10 of the biggest U.S. cities. San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and Houston have the biggest skills gaps, which are largely due to a scarcity of workers with service-industry skills. We took a closer look this month and uncovered that the most scarce service-industry skills are in healthcare management and education and teaching. Workers with healthcare management skills – like primary care, medical billing, and health education – are in scarcity in nine of the cities. And workers with education and teaching skills – like lesson planning, lecturing, and e-learning – are in scarcity in six of the cities.

January And February Were The Strongest Consecutive Months For Hiring Since August And September 2015

Hiring across the U.S. was 1.4% higher in February than in February 2016, and only 1.3% lower than January 2017. Two months doesn't make a trend, but it seems like the stronger hiring is being driven by elevated business confidence due to the new administration's promises to lower taxes and reduce regulations. It's unclear if this trend is sustainable, or merely a temporary blip on the radar, but we're keeping an eye on it.

Removing seasonal hiring variations – like companies hiring less in December due to the holiday season – helps us uncover emerging hiring trends. Seasonally-adjusted hiring was down 1.3% compared to January, but remains quite strong. If you're looking for a new gig, check out LinkedIn Jobs!

Industry Hiring

Most industries experienced normal fluctuations in hiring in February. However, hiring in the oil and energy industry continued to rebound last month. Seasonally-adjusted hiring has risen by a whopping 51% since June 2016 – the low point of the oil and energy sector's recession. On a related note, hiring in Houston is the strongest it has been in over two years – it's up 24% since September. Interestingly, February was the highest month for crude oil prices since June 2015, which may be spurring hiring in the oil and energy industry.

Hiring in the manufacturing and industrial industry is up as well. Seasonally-adjusted hiring has risen 9% since October 2016. And February's hiring rate was the strongest it has been since August 2016.

Workers Continue To Move From The Rust Belt To The Sun And Rain Belts

Generally speaking, cities that are gaining lots of workers have stronger economies than cities that are losing lots of workers.

As you can see below, Seattle, Austin, and Denver gained the most workers over the last 12 months. For every 10,000 LinkedIn members in Seattle, 74.2 workers moved to the city in the last year – mostly from San Francisco, New York City, and Chicago.

We noticed that Atlanta, Dallas, and Houston are gaining lots of workers from Chicago and New York City. But all of these cities are losing workers to Seattle and Denver, which are gaining workers in spades. We consider this trend as an extension of the "rust belt to sun belt" migration we've been experiencing since the 1960s; but we may need to rename the trend the "rust belt to sun and rain belts" to include the Pacific Northwest. Also, San Francisco dropped off the list of the 10 cities that gained the most workers and was replaced by Dallas/Fort Worth.

If you're interested in moving to Atlanta, Dallas, Houston or Seattle, check out their City Reports to see if you have the skills employers in those cities need most. If you do, take a look at their open jobs. If you don't, the City Reports feature LinkedIn Learning courses that will help you learn the most in-demand skills.

In February, Hartford replaced Providence atop the list of the 10 cities that lost the most workers in the last 12 months. So for every 10,000 LinkedIn members in Hartford, 59.6 left the city in the last year. Also, Cincinnati dropped off the list and was replaced by Memphis. If you live in any of the cities that lost the most workers and are considering relocating, take a look at the City Reports for the cities that gained the most workers in the last year to see if you have the skills companies in those cities need most.

Austin, Orange County, and San Diego remained atop the list of cities that experience the most total migration (workers moving into and out of a city). For every 10,000 LinkedIn members in Austin, 617.3 arrived in or left the city in the last 12 months. At the risk of sounding redundant, if you're considering moving to Austin, Orange County, or San Diego, you should consider renting versus buying since chances are you won't stay long.

Analyzing total migration also helps us identify cities that have strong bilateral economic ties (meaning lots of workers migrate between two cities) and track the emergence and decline of economic networks. Pairs of cities include Atlanta and Washington, D.C., Los Angeles and Orange County, Philadelphia and Baltimore, San Francisco and Sacramento, and Seattle and Portland.

Big Cities Need More Teachers, Doctors, and Nurses

A skills gap is a mismatch between the skills employers need (demand) and the skills workers have (supply). There is an abundance of skills when supply exceeds demand. There is a scarcity of skills when demand exceeds supply. A city with a scarcity of skills needs more workers with certain skills, while a city with an abundance of skills has too many workers with certain skills.

A skills gap is good news for jobseekers when it's caused by a scarcity of skills, and bad news when it's caused by an abundance of skills.

San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and Houston have the largest overall skills gaps, which are largely due to a scarcity of workers with certain skills. Austin and Seattle both jumped one spot on the list of the 10 cities that have the largest skills gaps, while Los Angeles and New York City each fell one spot. Greensboro dropped off the list, and was replaced by New York City, which landed in the ninth spot.

In February we took a closer look and uncovered that the most scarce service-industry skills are in healthcare management and education and teaching. Workers with healthcare management skills – like primary care, medical billing, and health education – are in shortage in nine of the 10 cities. And workers with education and teaching skills – like lesson planning, lecturing, and e-learning – are in shortage in six of the cities.

San Francisco, Austin, and Washington, D.C., have the largest scarcity of skills.

Check out the City Reports for Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, New York City, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington, D.C. to see which skills are most scarce in those cities, and which jobs are open.

West Palm Beach, Miami, and Fort Lauderdale continue to have the largest abundance of skills. That's likely because they're home to a large number of retired workers who remain active on boards and in the non-profit industry. If you're a recruiter, you should consider tapping into this underutilized talent pool!