LinkedIn data on 40 million UK users to be shared with government
Key Points
- The UK government's DWP has struck a partnership with LinkedIn to access anonymised data from the platform's 40 million UK accounts.
- Data on jobs, skills, hiring and workforce movement will be shared with Skills England; no individual-level member data will be passed to the DWP.
- The data could be used by the new Jobs and Careers Service to give jobseekers more tailored careers advice and to identify local skills gaps.
- Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden announced the deal on 15 June 2026 as part of a wider £2.5 billion youth employment package.
- Skills England estimates 1.8 million extra jobs will be needed in priority sectors by 2035.
The government will gain access to data drawn from LinkedIn’s 40 million UK accounts under a new partnership aimed at improving careers advice for jobseekers.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) announced the tie-up on Monday (15 June), confirming it will receive anonymised data on jobs, skills, hiring and workforce movement from the professional networking platform.
The information will be shared with Skills England, the government body set up to address skills shortages across the economy.
No individual-level member data will be passed to the DWP. The department said data will be collected within LinkedIn’s existing systems, with only anonymised findings shared with Skills England.
LinkedIn’s UK database of 40 million accounts includes students, retirees and working people.
The DWP said the data could in future be used by its new Jobs and Careers Service to give jobseekers more tailored advice on industry-specific skills and career routes.
The department’s first priority is to build a clearer picture of where there is a mismatch between the skills employers are advertising for locally and the skills held by the local population.
The DWP and Skills England will also work with LinkedIn to map how people move between jobs, with the stated aim of helping workers widen their career options and encouraging businesses to look beyond traditional recruitment pools.
The department said young people in particular stand to benefit, as the government gains a more detailed insight into local workforces and how they are evolving.
Extra jobs needed
The partnership comes as Skills England’s recent annual report found a further 1.8 million extra jobs will be needed in priority sectors by 2035.
The DWP pointed to figures from Funding Circle indicating that the average worker will go through seven jobs in their lifetime, with younger workers more likely to change roles.
Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden met LinkedIn’s Blake Lawit last week to mark the partnership.
McFadden said young people are far less likely than previous generations to stay in the same career for life, and that the deal would give the government a clearer understanding of what employers need, where opportunities are and how people are building their careers.
The partnership forms part of what the government describes as the biggest employment reforms in a generation, including the creation of the Jobs and Careers Service and a £2.5 billion package intended to give every young person the chance to earn or learn.
Phil Smith, Chair of Skills England, said the insights from LinkedIn’s anonymised data would be valuable for identifying local skills gaps and helping young people fill them.
Blake Lawit, Chief Global Affairs and Legal Officer at LinkedIn, said professionals entering the workforce now are on pace to hold twice as many jobs over their careers as those who started 15 years ago, making access to timely labour market insights increasingly important.
