tech
Workers are rewriting their LinkedIn histories to add AI skills. Here's what they're dropping.
Stanford and Revelio researchers analyzed 29.4 million LinkedIn profiles and found users added AI skills and dropped remote-work and DEI language.
TL;DR
- Workers are retroactively adding AI-related terms like 'AI', 'GPT', and 'LLM' to past job descriptions on LinkedIn.
- The addition of AI skills to previous roles has increased more than sixfold since late 2022.
- Conversely, language related to remote work ('remote', 'work from home', 'WFH') is being added less frequently, coinciding with return-to-office mandates.
- Additions of 'diversity', 'equity', 'inclusion', and 'DEI' terms have sharply declined, aligning with executive orders targeting DEI programs.
- The practice of editing past job descriptions is called 'time travel', and it's most prevalent in the technology sector.
- These edits signal how workers are positioning themselves for the evolving job market and what they believe employers want to see.
- LinkedIn profile edits should not be treated as a fixed record of the past, as they can overstate the prevalence of skills at an earlier time.