3 Insights on NYC’s Talent: Where They Come From, Where They Go, and Who's Getting Hired the Most

NYC just hosted LinkedIn’s first-ever Talent Intelligence Experience.

Attended by over 300 talent leaders, the event featured stirring speeches from industry leaders, hands-on workshops, networking opportunities galore, and Inside the Insights, an immersive, interactive exhibit powered by LinkedIn data. There was even an exclusive sneak peek of the upcoming LinkedIn Talent Insights product.

While we were in New York, we shared three quick talent insights about the city that never sleeps. Here’s a recap of that analysis based on LinkedIn data. (Just remember that these stats only scratch the surface of what’s possible—you’ll be able to discover way more with the new self-serve LinkedIn Talent Insights product).

1. New York City gains more talent from Boston than any other city—so you might want to source Bostonians to relocate

Despite their bitter sports rivalries, it seems New Yorkers and Bostonians can actually get along pretty well: Boston is the #1 source of talent for NYC.

What that means for New York businesses: if you’re struggling to find enough talent locally, you should seriously consider sourcing from Boston—whether that’s a targeted employer branding campaign or simply finding and engaging the top candidates from Beantown. There’s a pretty good chance you’ll find prospects willing to relocate.

2. New York City loses the most talent to Los Angeles—so consider expanding or offering remote work options

Of all the talent leaving New York, more professionals move to LA than any other destination. Maybe it’s the warm weather or the chill West Coast vibes—but our analysis shows this talent migration is due to increased opportunities in media, arts and design, marketing, and operations.

NYC-based businesses looking to keep that kind of talent may have a hard time competing with year-round beach weather—so if you can’t beat ‘em, consider joining ‘em. If you’re not already there, you may want to open a satellite office in LA to tap into that talent pool and give your NYC talent some warmer relocation options. You could also consider hiring remote workers based out of the LA area.

3. NYC has a top-tier pool of tech talent—so you don’t need to look far for software engineers

Turns out Silicon Alley is more than a silly nickname—it’s real. For the first time in LinkedIn’s records, companies in NYC hired more software engineers than any other role in 2017, dethroning account executives. That’s a huge jump from 2016, when software engineer was only the fourth-most hired role in the city.

And it’s not just that New York has a large pool of engineers: they’re pretty advanced, too. NYC talent is ahead of the curve with AI being the single fastest-growing field of study and four times more AI professionals than the city had five years ago.

That means you shouldn’t have to look too far to find quality tech talent. In fact, AI-focused companies not in New York may want to open an office here or source and relocate engineers from NYC.

Catch the next Talent Intelligence Experience events in Paris and Sydney

New York can feel like the center of the world, but it’s just one of three cities hosting Talent Intelligence Experience events: we’re also in Paris, France on June 12 and in Sydney, Australia on August 14 and 15.

Remember, the NYC stats are just the tip of the insights iceberg: you’ll get free reign to explore all those analytics and more upon the release of the upcoming LinkedIn Talent Insights self-service tool.

We’ve entered the era of talent intelligence, where data and insights can make people your competitive advantage. Whether you’re in New York or not, the best way to welcome this new era might just be in person.

*Photo by jonathan riley on Unsplash

To receive blog posts like this one straight in your inbox, subscribe to the blog newsletter.