LinkedIn Workforce Report | United States | May 2019

Over 150 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 members can add over 50,000 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, skills gaps, 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 | Nationally, across all industries, gross hiring in the U.S. was 7.4% higher than in April 2018. Seasonally-adjusted national hiring was 0.2% higher in April from March 2019. The industries with the most notable hiring shifts in April were Hardware & Networking (15.3% higher); Corporate Services (14.9% higher); and Public Administration (14% higher).

• Hiring | With U.S. unemployment rates at historic lows, this May’s crop of college graduates should be more optimistic about finding a job than in previous years. Last year, about 55% of 2018 graduates reported starting a role in the same year, a statistic that has been steadily increasing since the Recession. The share of graduates finding a job within their graduation year increased in total by 4.86 percentage points from 2012 to 2017 - moving up a steady average of 0.81 percentage points per year. These findings are validated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics data on age 20-24 employment-population ratio, which is back up to 67% after falling below 60%  in 2010.

• Migration | New graduates are almost split when it comes to moving away from their college town, but those who do choose the largest markets. Around 49% of new graduates remain in the same market where they went to school, but the majority of new graduates move to a new market. For those graduates who do move, the top markets have incredibly high numbers of entry-level roles. Topping the list is New York City (136K+ open entry-level roles), followed by the San Francisco Bay Area (122K+ open entry-level roles), Chicago (146K+ open entry-level roles) and Washington D.C. (126K+ open entry-level roles).

• Skills | New graduates are investing in the skills employers want. We’re also seeing that recent grads are adding additional skills and training after graduation, primarily concentrated in data visualization, data modeling, and analytics -- which are in line with the skills that are most in-demand from employers. The top skills employers are looking for right now include: cloud computing, artificial intelligence, analytical reasoning, people management, and UX design.

For more insights about graduates entering the workforce, see our 2019 Grads Guide to Getting Hired.

Hiring |

The LinkedIn hiring rate is a measure of gross hires divided by LinkedIn membership. Nationally, across all industries, gross hiring in the U.S. was 7.4% higher than in April 2018.

Seasonally-adjusted national hiring was 0.2% higher in April from March 2019.

The industries with the most notable hiring shifts in April were Hardware & Networking (15.3% higher); Corporate Services (14.9% higher); and Public Administration (14% higher).

Table 1: Hiring on LinkedIn, by Industry, through April 2019

Skills Gaps |

(Note: We recently updated the skills gap methodology in the LinkedIn Workforce Report to include absolute headcounts to precisely measure skills gaps. To learn more about this updated methodology, see here.)

A skills gap is the gap between supply and demand for a specific skill, in a specific local labor market, at a specific point in time. That means that skills gaps are fundamentally local, and specific to the supply and demand of individual skills within a labor market. The U.S. cities with the largest skills gaps overall are New York City, NY; San Francisco Bay Area, CA; and Los Angeles, CA.

New York City, NY; San Francisco Bay Area, CA; and Los Angeles, CA also see the greatest shortages across all skills. To see which skills are driving these massive shortages, check out our localized reports.

The cities with the greatest surpluses across all skills are New York City, NY; Philadelphia, PA; and Chicago, IL.

Check out our localized 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 the top skills in demand locally and other insights.

Migration |

The U.S. cities losing the most people are Wichita, KS; State College, PA; and Bryan-College Station, TX. For every 10,000 LinkedIn members in Wichita, KS, 285 left in the past 12 months.

The U.S. cities gaining the most people are Austin, TX; Denver, CO; and Charlotte, NC. For every 10,000 LinkedIn members in Austin, TX, 123 arrived in the last 12 months.

Austin, TX; Denver, CO; and San Diego, CA are the U.S. cities experiencing the most total migration (workers moving into and out of a city). This list captures the most transient cities. For every 10,000 LinkedIn members in Austin, TX, 657 arrived in or left the city 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 skills are in shortage in those cities, and which jobs are open.