LinkedIn Workforce Report | United States | March 2022
Over 186 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
Hiring dips down slightly after a record January: Nationally, across all industries, hiring in the U.S. was 5.6% lower in February 2022 compared to last month. National hiring was 9.8% higher in February 2022 compared to last year February 2021. Looking ahead, headwinds building in the labor market mean hiring gains in 2022 are likely to be smaller than in 2021.
Recreation and Travel continues steady hiring gains: The industries with the most notable hiring shifts month-to-month in February 2022 were Recreation & Travel (2.5% higher), Corporate Services (2.3% higher), and Nonprofit (0.5% higher). The industries with the strongest hiring rates relative to pre-COVID levels were Recreation & Travel (39.6% higher), Software & IT (25.9% higher) and Corporate Services (14.3% higher). While Recreation & Travel continues its strong comeback from 2020 lows, Software & IT and Corporate Services have proven among the most resilient sectors throughout the entire pandemic era.
Miami continues to lead the pack in hiring relative to pre-COVID: 13 of the 20 metro areas we follow closely had hiring above pre-COVID levels, down from 18 last month.The metro areas experiencing the strongest hiring rates relative to pre-COVID levels were Miami (16.30% higher), Austin (13.75% higher) and Dallas (10.91% higher). Miami topping the list in hiring relative to pre-COVID levels has been a fairly consistent story throughout the past year, as the city continues to attract both new tech talent and remote workers flocking to the area.
Hiring
The LinkedIn hiring rate is a measure of hires divided by LinkedIn membership. Nationally, across all industries, hiring in the U.S. was 5.6% lower in February 2022 compared to last month January 2022. National hiring was 9.8% higher in February 2022 compared to last year February 2021.
The industries with the most notable hiring shifts month-to-month in February 2022 were Recreation & Travel (2.5% higher); Corporate Services (2.3% higher); and Nonprofit (0.5% higher).
Table 1: Hiring on LinkedIn, by Industry, through February 2022
Industry | Feb-21 | ··· | Nov-21 | Dec-21 | Jan-22 | Feb-22 | MoM% Change | YoY% Change |
Agriculture | 1.20 | ··· | 1.47 | 1.19 | 1.27 | 1.25 | -1.8 | +4 |
Arts | 0.70 | ··· | 0.99 | 0.98 | 1.03 | 1.02 | -0.7 | +45.3 |
Construction | 1.15 | ··· | 1.32 | 1.21 | 1.31 | 1.21 | -7.8 | +5 |
Consumer Goods | 1.05 | ··· | 1.15 | 1.16 | 1.10 | 1.09 | -1.7 | +3 |
Corporate Services | 1.17 | ··· | 1.47 | 1.36 | 1.34 | 1.37 | +2.3 | +17.2 |
Design | 0.87 | ··· | 1.14 | 1.04 | 1.05 | 1.05 | -0.5 | +20.4 |
Education | 1.08 | ··· | 1.18 | 1.13 | 1.20 | 1.16 | -3.5 | +7.6 |
Energy & Mining | 0.95 | ··· | 1.16 | 1.14 | 1.13 | 1.12 | -0.7 | +18.3 |
Entertainment | 0.85 | ··· | 1.10 | 1.07 | 1.14 | 1.13 | -0.5 | +33.4 |
Finance | 1.20 | ··· | 1.45 | 1.38 | 1.35 | 1.28 | -4.7 | +6.5 |
Hardware & Networking | 0.89 | ··· | 1.15 | 1.04 | 1.07 | 1.07 | -0.2 | +19.1 |
Health Care | 1.22 | ··· | 1.40 | 1.29 | 1.40 | 1.27 | -8.8 | +4.5 |
Legal | 1.03 | ··· | 1.16 | 1.11 | 1.07 | 1.07 | +0.3 | +3.9 |
Manufacturing | 1.15 | ··· | 1.30 | 1.26 | 1.22 | 1.15 | -6 | +0.2 |
Media & Communications | 0.99 | ··· | 1.12 | 1.11 | 1.04 | 1.03 | -0.5 | +4.4 |
Nonprofit | 1.06 | ··· | 1.18 | 1.10 | 1.13 | 1.14 | +0.5 | +7.8 |
Public Administration | 1.14 | ··· | 1.23 | 1.16 | 1.12 | 1.11 | -1 | -2.9 |
Public Safety | 1.07 | ··· | 1.08 | 1.06 | 1.04 | 1.04 | +0.1 | -2.3 |
Real Estate | 1.28 | ··· | 1.37 | 1.29 | 1.29 | 1.24 | -4.1 | -3.6 |
Recreation & Travel | 0.81 | ··· | 1.27 | 1.30 | 1.22 | 1.25 | +2.5 | +53.8 |
Retail | 1.00 | ··· | 1.10 | 1.08 | 1.12 | 1.04 | -7 | +3.9 |
Software & IT Services | 1.30 | ··· | 1.62 | 1.66 | 1.62 | 1.62 | +0.3 | +25 |
Transportation & Logistics | 1.23 | ··· | 1.49 | 1.35 | 1.48 | 1.36 | -7.8 | +10.2 |
Wellness & Fitness | 1.25 | ··· | 1.37 | 1.33 | 1.42 | 1.24 | -12.7 | -1.2 |
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 Lafayette, IN. For every 10,000 LinkedIn members in College Station-Bryan, TX, 221 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, 136 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.
