Columbia Business School
- Satya Nadella recently said LinkedIn saw "record engagement" as content shared increased 29%.
- A Columbia Business School expert said this may mean professionals are considering a job switch.
- A rise in LinkedIn activity says less about the economy, and more about the shift in US priorities.
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
If you're a burned out professional day-dreaming of quitting your job, you are might find yourself spending more time on LinkedIn.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said the company saw "record engagement" on LinkedIn, as conversations increased by 43%, content shared increased 29%, and hours learning new skills increased by a whopping 80% in the first three months of 2021.
And despite major job losses following the COVID-19 pandemic, businesses spent 60% more on marketing jobs on LinkedIn over the last year than the previous year – bringing in a total of $3 billion.
"We once again saw record engagement, as LinkedIn's 756 million members use the network to connect, learn, create content, and find jobs," Nadella said on a call to investors on April 27.
Though more time spent on LinkedIn might initially suggest an improving job market, Dan Wang, an associate professor at the Columbia Business School who completed a study about LinkedIn learning in January, said the trend has more to do with the changing attitude of wealthy job seekers rather than an indication that the economy is coming back.
"It's not obvious to me that it's the availability of jobs that's driving increased activity on LinkedIn," Wang said in an interview with Insider.
"Individuals are more contemplative about their career prospects. They were left to reflect more about their careers, their achievements and positions," he added. "It's more of these big cognitive shifts that the pandemic has induced that's simply being reflected in LinkedIn activity."
A rise in LinkedIn usage could be a sign that the 'YOLO economy' is alive and well.
The New York Times' Kevin Roose recently reported wealthy professionals are leaving their high-intensity jobs in tech and business for passion projects. He coined the new trend the "YOLO ("you only live once") economy," as many professionals have realized during the pandemic that life is too short to waste away typing on Excel. Insider has reported on widespread burnout in consulting, tech, media, and other professional industries.
A similar trend happened during the Great Recession in 2008, when white collar workers who lost cushy jobs in finance turned to entrepreneurship. Some today's hottest companies - including Uber, Venmo, and Instagram - grew out of the financial crisis.
"So it would not surprise me that there would be an explosion of creative energy as well that follows this period," Wang said.
The opportunity to quit your job and start a company exists for a small fraction of the US workforce. Millions of Americans are at risk of losing their house this year and are behind on rent.
Though jobs are steadily rebounding in the US as vaccination picks up, just 4% of workers in leisure, hospitality, and retail - among the hardest hit during the pandemic - will get their old jobs back. Women, particularly mothers, left the workforce entirely during the pandemic.
Wang said active LinkedIn users tend to have college degrees and a "higher than average level of employability." These people probably used April stimulus checks on improving their professional prospects, rather than basic necessities.
Economists said the post-pandemic recovery was "K-shaped," or devastating to lower-paid Americans yet fruitful for the richest. Wang said the desire for white-collar workers to follow their passions is "emblematic" of the K-shaped recovery.
"The pandemic gave folks who are already kind of fairly well to do an opportunity to reevaluate their careers and perhaps in the opportunity to have a boost in their careers as well," he said.