A growing trend of professionals moving from large to small companies is driving a talent boost for the UK’s small enterprises and start-ups, according to new findings by LinkedIn. 

The findings – based on a sample of its 20 million UK members – showed an increase in the number of professionals who indicated they had changed to a position with a smaller company over the past year.

Between March 2015 and March 2016, the number of LinkedIn members in the UK stating they were working at a company with fewer than 50 employees (including self-employment) rose by more than 16%.

By contrast, there was a small decrease in the number of LinkedIn members in Britain who indicated they worked for a company with 51 staff or more over the same period. The largest decrease (-14.3%) was amongst members who work at a company with over ten thousand employees.

“This new data corroborates some broader labour market trends,” University of Oxford economist Craig Holmes said. “As well as a growing number of new start-ups, there have also been increases in the number of people engaged in the ‘gig economy’ and other forms of self-employment.  The improving economic outlook will certainly have been important in the growth of small enterprises, while cutbacks in the public sector is one of the factors behind the growth in independent consultants and contractors.”

LinkedIn has also seen a steady increase over the same time period in both the number of professional members in the UK who stated that they are self-employed, and those who identify themselves as either business owners or entrepreneurs.

“SMEs are the lifeblood of the economy so it’s great to see our data suggesting that the country’s small companies are growing and recruiting more staff as a result,” Joshua Graff, UK Country Manager for LinkedIn, said, “Whether they are setting up new ventures or downsizing, more of our members have decided that ‘small is beautiful’ when it comes to their professional lives.”