More people are turning to personal and professional networks to secure jobs, make career changes, launch businesses, or even seek funding for new projects.
Unfortunately, most people often underestimate the power of networking and how it can transform their lives.
That is why I spent countless hours researching the most accurate, relevant, and current networking statistics.
7 Key Networking Statistics (Editor’s Pick)
- In 2022, 86% of US business travelers agreed that face-to-face networking was vital for improving a company’s success.
- Global in-person networking events for conferencing and tradeshows are set to increase by 3.3% in 2023.
- In 2022, 8 in 10 (80%) American adults said in-person networking was critical in maintaining high morale.
- 24% of Americans learned of job openings through professional connections in 2021.
- In 2021, 82% of US workers were likely to engage with social-media-posted job openings shared by their network.
- Workers with children (29%) were more likely to share job openings via social media.
- In 2023, 61.63% of North American firms expect to hold in-person-only networking meetings.
Infographic
<a href="https://vpnalert.com/resources/networking-statistics/" target="_blank" data-wpel-link="internal"><img decoding="async" src="https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/7-key-networking-statistics.png" alt="7 Key Networking Statistics" width="768" border="0" height="979.2" loading="lazy" fetchpriority="low" srcset="https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/7-key-networking-statistics-1205x1536.png 1200w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/7-key-networking-statistics-803x1024.png 803w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/7-key-networking-statistics.png 768w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/7-key-networking-statistics-235x300.png 235w" sizes="auto"></a>
General Networking Statistics
1. About 4 in 10 (38%) of US workers participated in company referral programs in 2021.
This was up from 27% in February 2020. This survey of over 1,500 Americans also revealed that workers with children (54%) were more likely to participate in their company’s employee referral program compared to male workers (48%), college-educated employees (49%), and married workers (47%).
In-Person Networking Statistics
2. Almost 8 in 10 (79%) sales professionals in 2022 used in-person meetings to finalize sale deals with their business networks.
Phone calls (53%) were next, followed by social media (50%), email (43%), and video calls (41%).
3. In 2022, 65% of brands reported that in-person networking was a critical pillar of their marketing strategy.
However, 35% of respondents in this survey felt that in-person networking needed to change to stay relevant.
4. In 2021, scientists claimed that moving from in-person to virtual networking could reduce carbon emissions by 94%.
That was in addition to lowering energy use by 90%. These scientists also reported that holding networking sessions with over 50% of in-person participants in special hybrid hubs could reduce emissions and energy use by over 66%.
5. 7 in 10 (74%) business travelers in 2022 reported that in-person networking helps increase organizational strength compared to virtual networking.
61% of adults also agreed with this opinion, according to a poll of 2,210 US adults.
6. In 2022, 86% of US business travelers agreed that face-to-face networking was vital for improving a company's success.
Another 80% of US employees agreed with this sentiment.
<a href="https://vpnalert.com/resources/networking-statistics/" target="_blank" data-wpel-link="internal"><img decoding="async" src="https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/face-to-face-networking.png" alt="Face to Face Networking Statistics" width="768" border="0" height="629.50819672131" loading="lazy" fetchpriority="low" srcset="https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/face-to-face-networking-1536x1259.png 1464w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/face-to-face-networking-1024x840.png 1024w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/face-to-face-networking.png 768w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/face-to-face-networking-300x246.png 300w" sizes="auto"></a>
7. 86% of employed Americans in 2022 reported that in-person networking was crucial in maintaining good relationships with co-workers.
This belief was also shared by 89% of business travelers, according to a survey of 2,210 Americans.
8. In 2022, 88% of US business travelers reported that in-person networking was essential in maintaining good client relationships.
85% of employed Americans agreed with this observation.
9. 56% of adult Americans in 2022 reported that the COVID-19 pandemic created a greater need for in-person networking.
71% of US business people said virtual-only networking was insufficient, according to a poll of 256 business travelers.
10. Global in-person networking events for conferencing and tradeshows are set to increase by 3.3% in 2023.
And there is an anticipated 4.2% increase for small and simple meetings.
11. In 2022, 8 in 10 (80%) American adults said in-person networking was critical in maintaining high morale.
This was also the case for 83% of US business travelers in a 2022 survey.
12. About 7 in 10 (76%) US business travelers in 2022 reported that in-person networking improved collaboration.
59% of US adults confirmed virtual networking did not foster collaborations like in-person networking.
13. In 2023, 61.63% of North American firms expect to hold in-person-only networking meetings.
That was the highest compared to European (53.04%), Latin American (48.63%), and Asian Pacific (37.08%) firms during the same period.
Professional Networking Statistics
14. In 2021, 24% of Americans learned of job openings through professional connections.
This was a reduction from 31% in 2020, according to a survey of 1,500 adult Americans.
| Source of Job Opening | 2021 | 2020 |
|---|---|---|
| Online job boards | 60% | 72% |
| Social media (LinkedIn, Facebook) | 44% | 42% |
| Friends | 35% | 45% |
| Career site | 26% | - |
| Professional connections (Network) | 24% | 31% |
15. Approximately 2 in 10 (18%) US workers applied for jobs through personal connections (friends/former colleagues).
This represented a 5% drop from the 23% in 2020. This 2021 research also established that job applications through personal connections were more common for rural (28%) than city workers (16%).
| Job Application Method | Average % |
|---|---|
| Job boards | 27% |
| Career Sites | 24% |
| Friends or former colleagues | 18% |
| Social sites (Facebook, Linkedin) | 14% |
Business Networking Statistics
16. In 2022, 66% of sales professionals got their best quality leads through referrals from their network.
A further 47% got such leads from social media, and 44% did so via trade shows and events, according to research on 1000+ sales professionals.
<a href="https://vpnalert.com/resources/networking-statistics/" target="_blank" data-wpel-link="internal"><img decoding="async" src="https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/sales-professional-leads.png" alt="Sales Professional Leads Statistics" width="768" border="0" height="365.36668334167" loading="lazy" fetchpriority="low" srcset="https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/sales-professional-leads-1536x731.png 1536w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/sales-professional-leads-1024x487.png 1024w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/sales-professional-leads.png 768w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/sales-professional-leads-300x143.png 300w" sizes="auto"></a>
17. 66% of surveyed B2B sales representatives planned to grow their business networks using Facebook in 2023.
That is compared to 70% of B2C sales professionals with the same mindset.
Here is a summary of social media networks that B2B and B2C sales professionals plan to use to grow their business networks in 2023.
| Social Media Platform | B2B Sales Representatives | B2C Sales Representatives |
|---|---|---|
| 69% | 55% | |
| 66% | 70% | |
| 61% | 64% | |
| YouTube | 50% | 52% |
| TikTok | 49% | 50% |
Employee Networking Statistics
18. In 2022, companies with stronger internal employee networks were 5.4 times more agile than those with poor networks.
Additionally, these organizations were also 3.2 more likely to have satisfied clients and 2.3 times more likely to have engaged employees than companies with weaker employee networks.
19. 68% of employees in high agility teams in 2022 enjoyed a robust manager-employee network.
In contrast, only 47% and 43% of employees in organizations with medium and poor agility companies, respectively, reported having robust manager-employee networks.
20. In 2022, just 27% of employees in organizations with poor agility had robust manager-team networks.
That was compared to 41% of employees in companies with moderate agility and 67% for highly agile organizations.
Networking Tools Statistics
21. Employees with access to networking tools in 2022 were 23% more productive than those without access to these tools.
Additionally, such employees were 31% more enthusiastic, 28% more engaged, and 39% more trustworthy.
Social Media Networking Statistics
This represented an increase from the 74% posted in February 2020.
This was compared to college-educated employees (27%) and married workers (26%) in 2021.
<a href="https://vpnalert.com/resources/networking-statistics/" target="_blank" data-wpel-link="internal"><img decoding="async" src="https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/sharing-job-openings-via-social-media.png" alt="Sharing Job Openings via Social Media" width="768" border="0" height="521.26696832579" loading="lazy" fetchpriority="low" srcset="https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/sharing-job-openings-via-social-media-1536x1043.png 1536w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/sharing-job-openings-via-social-media-1024x695.png 1024w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/sharing-job-openings-via-social-media.png 768w, https://vpnalert.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/sharing-job-openings-via-social-media-300x204.png 300w" sizes="auto"></a>
LinkedIn (65%) was next, followed by Twitter (48%), Instagram (46%), and YouTube (35%), according to a survey of 817 US recruiters.
Your Network Is Your Net Worth
Like most social and professional interactions, networking is not a walk in the park and demands time, consistency, and dedication.
And while building a network is critical for personal and professional growth, understanding how to maintain your network is equally vital.
Likewise, networking is essential not just for on-site work but also for remote and hybrid work. I recommend you read our detailed remote work statistics article to understand how it evolves in this highly digital age.
- https://www.displaywizard.co.uk/covid-19-trade-show-report/#:~:text=65%25%20of%20businesses%20said%20that%20in%2Dperson%20trade%20shows%20were%20an%20invaluable%20part%20of%20their%20marketing%20strategy.
- https://blog.hubspot.com/sales/sales-networking
- https://blog.hubspot.com/sales/hubspot-sales-strategy-report?hubs_content=blog.hubspot.com%2Fsales%2Fsales-networking&hubs_content-cta=Sales%20Trends%20Report
- https://enboarder.com/define-meaningful-moments-connection-report
- https://www.achievers.com/resources/white-papers/workforce-institute-tech-enabled-employee-experience/
- https://www.jobvite.com/lp/2021-job-seeker-nation-report/thank-you/?submissionGuid=be907348-b6df-402b-899c-b62f8144256b
- https://www.jobvite.com/lp/2021-recruiter-nation-report/
- https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-27251-2
- https://www.ahla.com/news/survey-77-business-travelers-64-workers-say-return-business-travel-more-important-ever
- https://stories.hilton.com/meetings-events/celebrating-global-meetings-industry-day-innovations-reigniting-the-power-of-in-person-meetings-and-events
