Learning from the LinkedIn Economic Graph

Peter du ToitI'm the founder of FutureWork IQ where I spend my time assisting businesses to design digital workplaces or “offices in the cloud.” These environments enable companies to allow flexible and remote working for their teams. I also teach the digital literacy, fluency, communication and collaboration skills needed to work in these modern technology-rich workplaces.

Take a listen to these fascinating insights (4mins) from Jeff Weiner, LinkedIn’s CEO.

Some background…

A few weeks ago LinkedIn released some never-before shared insights from something they call the “Economic Graph” – the connections between companies, employees and skills (vs the social graph that Facebook has ie connections between friends and acquaintances.)

The data is such an eye opener as it provides a real-time view into the global shifts happening in workforces and the skills companies are in desperate need of. They are using this data to help cities and governments plan better for the future of work.

One of the things the economic graph data is highlighting is that skilled people aren’t necessarily in the geographic location where companies that require those skills are based.

In the past the only way to solve this problem was for the skilled person (and his or her family) to relocate or if it made sufficient ROI sense, for the company to open an office where there was a concentration of the skills they needed.

But relocation is expensive and hugely disruptive – ask anyone who has had to uproot and move to another city or country “because that’s where the job is.”

There is another way! And it’s a global trend…

(If you have a keen interest in the future of work and what skills are in high demand then the entire session is well worth listening to – link here)