LinkedIn Workforce Report | United States | November 2020
Over 169 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 36,000 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 in the U.S. during October ticked up 15.5% higher from September 2020. Looking at where that puts us from last year, hiring this month still remains 5.8% lower than it was in October 2019.
Industries that have seen the biggest recovery since hitting lows in April include: real estate (up to +2.9% y/y in October from -54.7% y/y in April), construction (up to -7.9% y/y from -53.6% y/y), retail (up to -5.6% y/y from -49.7% y/y), transportation & logistics (up to +4.1% y/y from -44.1% y/y), and manufacturing (up to -6.7% y/y from -48.8% y/y).
In contrast, industries that have underperformed the most relative to where they were in April include: arts (remains down -32.3% y/y in October from -38.2% y/y in April), recreation and travel (remains -41.3% y/y from -45.4% y/y), agriculture (remains -7.6% y/y from -25.3% y/y), hardware & networking (remains -14.3% y/y from -42.0% y/y), and software (remains -8.1% y/y from -30.1% y/y).
- Sunbelt and southern cities continue to climb closer to recovery, with the five cities closest to recovery including Phoenix (-0.8% y/y), Atlanta (-3.0% y/y), Dallas (-6.1% y/y), Miami (-6.8%) and Chicago (-7.5% y/y); and some of the largest coastal metro areas are lagging behind, with the three cities furthest from recovery including San Francisco (-19.7% y/y/), New York City (-22.3% y/y) and Seattle (-22.9% y/y)
Hiring
The LinkedIn hiring rate is a measure of hires divided by LinkedIn membership. Nationally, across all industries, hiring in the U.S. was 5.8% lower than in October 2019. National hiring was 15.5% higher in October from September 2020.
The industries with the most notable hiring shifts month-to-month in October were Entertainment (29.5% higher m/m); Education (16.3% higher m/m); and Arts (11.7% higher m/m).
Table 1: Hiring on LinkedIn, by Industry, through October 2020
Industry | Oct-19 | ··· | Jul-20 | Aug-20 | Sep-20 | Oct-20 | MoM% Change | YoY% Change |
Agriculture | 1.17 | ··· | 1.05 | 1.08 | 1.05 | 1.08 | +2.9 | -7.6 |
Arts | 0.70 | ··· | 0.52 | 0.47 | 0.42 | 0.47 | +11.7 | -32.3 |
Construction | 1.11 | ··· | 1.00 | 1.01 | 1.00 | 1.02 | +2.6 | -7.9 |
Consumer Goods | 1.00 | ··· | 0.83 | 0.83 | 0.83 | 0.87 | +5 | -12.2 |
Corporate Services | 1.06 | ··· | 0.91 | 0.91 | 0.92 | 0.93 | +0.7 | -12.7 |
Education | 1.05 | ··· | 0.85 | 0.82 | 0.82 | 0.96 | +16.3 | -9.1 |
Energy & Mining | 1.06 | ··· | 0.71 | 0.67 | 0.71 | 0.72 | +1.3 | -32.1 |
Entertainment | 0.91 | ··· | 0.80 | 0.70 | 0.61 | 0.79 | +29.5 | -13.2 |
Finance | 1.06 | ··· | 0.99 | 0.98 | 0.97 | 1.04 | +7.7 | -1.6 |
Hardware & Networking | 0.85 | ··· | 0.70 | 0.72 | 0.70 | 0.73 | +5.1 | -14.4 |
Health Care | 1.04 | ··· | 0.96 | 1.00 | 1.01 | 1.09 | +7.8 | +4.6 |
Legal | 0.96 | ··· | 0.97 | 0.76 | 0.73 | 0.79 | +8.7 | -17.6 |
Manufacturing | 1.07 | ··· | 0.93 | 0.95 | 0.96 | 1.00 | +4.1 | -6.7 |
Nonprofit | 0.99 | ··· | 0.91 | 0.89 | 0.88 | 0.89 | +0.8 | -10 |
Public Administration | 1.10 | ··· | 1.11 | 1.11 | 1.00 | 1.04 | +3.7 | -5.7 |
Public Safety | 1.01 | ··· | 0.95 | 0.95 | 0.92 | 0.96 | +4.2 | -4.5 |
Real Estate | 1.18 | ··· | 1.09 | 1.19 | 1.16 | 1.21 | +4.7 | +2.9 |
Recreation & Travel | 0.96 | ··· | 0.96 | 0.66 | 0.61 | 0.56 | -8.3 | -41.3 |
Retail | 0.97 | ··· | 0.87 | 0.87 | 0.88 | 0.91 | +3.3 | -5.6 |
Software & IT Services | 1.11 | ··· | 0.86 | 0.93 | 0.93 | 1.02 | +10.1 | -8.1 |
Transportation & Logistics | 1.11 | ··· | 0.97 | 1.05 | 1.07 | 1.16 | +8 | +4.1 |
Wellness & Fitness | 1.09 | ··· | 1.06 | 1.07 | 1.09 | 1.16 | +5.9 | +5.7 |
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 2015-2016 for each industry; for example, an index of 1.05 indicates a hiring rate that is 5% higher than the average month in 2015-2016.
Migration
The U.S. cities losing the most people are Bryan-College Station, TX; State College, PA; and Lafayette, IN. For every 10,000 LinkedIn members in Bryan-College Station, TX, 273 left in the past 12 months.
The U.S. cities gaining the most people are Austin, TX; Charlotte, NC; and Tampa-St. Petersburg, FL. For every 10,000 LinkedIn members in Austin, TX, 140 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.
