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Dear reader,

How are you?

I set two goals for unemployed together when I started — to share stories from people who lost employment due to the pandemic and to share news and insights about the jobs market.

Since soft launching last month, unemployed together has published a new personal story almost every week (two weeks off because of political news). Tonight I want to share some insight into the jobs market from LinkedIn. You’ll want to read to the end…

According to LinkedIn, the fastest growing jobs on its platform last year were roles in workplace diversity, e-commerce, loan and mortgage, personal coaching, and digital content creators.

Software development, project management, data analysis, digital marketing, and product management topped the platform’s list of top skills accessed through its online courses.

Check out LinkedIn’s Jobs on the Rise list for 10 more fast-growing jobs and skills. And my full story on Medium.

As part of my reporting for this story, I also interviewed Lakshman Somasundaram, a LinkedIn senior product manager. He shared two surprising facts with me.

First — 60% of the jobs on LinkedIn are for jobs that typically require less than a 4-year degree.

Second —Applying to a job on LinkedIn within 10 minutes of it being posted increases an applicant’s chance of hearing back 4x.

Both are important in light of the recent jobs report which showed that nearly half a million leisure and hospitality jobs were lost in December and at least 4 million people have been out of work for half a year.

Knowing now that LinkedIn hiring isn’t *just* for white collar jobs will hopefully help you (or someone you know) use the platform to look for hourly or vocational jobs. And remembering to set alerts for job postings may help you (or someone you know) improve your chances of landing a job.

What do you think? Let me know in the comments or via email (lisahopeking @ proton mail).

And one last bit of hope tonight: Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, the man who controls money supply in the country, told reporters earlier today that his primary focus right now is to get people who have lost their jobs back to work as quickly as possible.

“I’m much more worried about losing people’s careers and lives that they built because people don’t get back to work in time … and the damage that will do, not just to their lives, but to the United States economy, the productive capacity of the economy,” Powell said when asked about inflation concerns.

I like the sound of that.

Take care of yourself tonight, and others if you can.

Be well,

Hope

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