LinkedIn Workforce Report | United States | October 2019

Over 165 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 35,000 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 | Seasonally-adjusted national hiring was 1.1% higher in September from August 2019. Gross hiring in the U.S. year-over-year was 12.2% in higher in September 2019 than in September 2018.
• Migration | The U.S. cities gaining the most professionals this month are Austin, TX; Denver, CO; and Nashville, TN.
• Skills Gaps | The U.S. cities with the largest skills gaps overall this month are New York City, NY; San Francisco Bay Area, CA; and Los Angeles, CA.
• #AmericaAtWork | LinkedIn Editor George Anders took a closer look at migration and housing cost data in his #AmericaAtWork series this month, revealing the tipping point for when a city becomes too unaffordable to attract and keep talent.

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 12.2% higher than in September 2018.

Seasonally-adjusted national hiring was 1.1% higher in September from August 2019.

The industries with the most notable hiring shifts in September were Design (50.1% higher); Media & Communications (32.6% higher); and Corporate Services (24.3% higher).

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

Skills Gaps

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.

San Francisco Bay Area, CA; New York City, NY; 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 Detroit, MI; 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 top skills in demand locally and other insights.

Migration

The U.S. cities losing the most people are State College, PA; Bryan-College Station, TX; and Wichita, KS. For every 10,000 LinkedIn members in State College, PA, 251 left in the past 12 months.

The U.S. cities gaining the most people are Austin, TX; Denver, CO; and Nashville, TN. For every 10,000 LinkedIn members in Austin, TX, 140 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, 683 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.