UK LinkedIn Workforce Report: Britain losing talent since Brexit vote

LinkedIn’s sixth UK Workforce Report reveals that the UK has become less attractive as a destination for international talent, as in Q1 of 2018, it lost more professionals to the 27-member nations of the EU (EU27) than it gained from them. Migration has been steadily falling since the UK voted for Brexit, and LinkedIn’s data reveals that the number of professionals arriving to the UK from the EU27 has decreased by 26 percent over the last year.

This month the report includes the results of an independent ‘Recruiter Sentiment’ survey that gauges UK based in-house and agency recruiters’ confidence in their ability to fill available roles.

Other key insights include:

• Fewer international professionals are moving to the UK. In addition to seeing a reduction in the number of EU27 professionals relocating to the UK, there has also been a reduction of 20 percent in the number of professionals migrating from the rest of the world to the UK over the last year. This is supported by the experiences of recruiters, as nearly a third (28 percennt) of recruiters believe that the UK has become less attractive to candidates from the rest of the world.
• London is the region most impacted by the Brexit vote. Since the referendum, the net inflow of EU27 talent into London has been declining –  and now more people are leaving London to relocate to the EU27 than vice versa. This is substantiated by the experiences of recruiters in the capital, with 54 percent saying that it is having a ‘big’ or ‘huge’ impact on hiring. LinkedIn’s data has also revealed that domestic migration is not filling the gap left by the reduction in international talent.
• Hiring fell in 6 out of the 12 nations and regions in the UK. March saw an overall decrease in the number of hires made, continuing the downward trend since January. The overall rate was down 1.2 percent compared with February, with the North East, North West and Wales seeing reductions of -5 percent, -5 percent, and -10 percent respectively, perhaps a result of the heavy snowfall these regions experienced in March. London also saw a decrease for the second month in a row, down by a further 2 percent in March.

These insights are drawn from the data of more than 24 million LinkedIn members in the UK, 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 UK, 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 April LinkedIn UK Workforce Report.

Media enquiries related to the Workforce Report should be directed to press@linkedin.com