UK LinkedIn Workforce Report: Hiring falls amid tight labour market

Categories: EMEA, Economic Graph
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LinkedIn Corporate Communications

LinkedIn’s latest UK Workforce report reveals a continued fall in hiring in the United Kingdom. The hiring rate in December 2017 was 4 percent lower than the month before, suggesting that the U.K. ended 2017 with a slowing labour market.

Other key insights:

  • Hiring fell in 10 out of the 12 nations and regions in the UK. The North East saw the largest decline, with the hiring rate down 17 percent. While the hiring rate didn’t decrease in London and the South East, the regions reported static or near-static month on month figures, changing by 1 percent and 0 percent, respectively.

  • The hiring rate in most economic sectors slowed. The month on month hiring rate fell in 14 of 19 reported sectors — with the most significant declines seen in the retail, legal, and consumer goods sectors. Bucking the trend, the energy and mining sector maintained strong growth with its hiring rate up 31 percent in December 2017 compared to December 2016. Other sectors that performed well include software and IT services, entertainment, and media and communications — which continued their steady growth the last three months.

  • London remains the most attractive destination for talent. Looking at professional migration, nine out of 12 U.K. regions and nations gained more talent from overseas than they lost. Only Northern Ireland, the North East and Yorkshire and the Humber saw a net loss of talent overseas. London remains the most attractive destination for international and domestic migration, although Scotland overtakes it in terms of the proportion of its new arrivals coming from abroad.

These insights are drawn from the data of more than 23 million LinkedIn members in the U.K., which represents more than 70 percent of the working age population. The data shows the extent to which hiring is increasing or decreasing across the U.K., its regions, and industries, and where workers are moving to and from. The report is a tool which is designed to be used by policy makers, business and individuals to support them in making informed economic decisions.

Click here to read the full January LinkedIn U.K. Workforce Report.