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‘Founder’ is one of the fastest-growing job titles in Europe, according to recent LinkedIn data.
In fact, the number of LinkedIn members adding ‘Founder’ to their profiles has grown by 60% year over year, and has nearly tripled since 2022.
The trend is most profound in the Netherlands and the UK, rising by 85% and 69% respectively between July 2024 and July 2025. Spain (68%), Germany (61%), and France (49%) are also showing significant growth.
But what’s causing the surge in entrepreneurs, and is it a good time to go into business?
Sue Duke, Managing Director for EMEA & LATAM and Vice-President of Global Public Policy at LinkedIn, joined Angela Barnes on the latest episode of The Big Question to discuss Europe’s job market and the data driving the trends.
Europe’s job market
Businesses across Europe are still readjusting to find their ideal size, leading to mass redundancies and a slowdown of hiring, following a post-pandemic recruitment boom.
However, Sue stressed that “Right now, the labour market is sluggish, but not stagnant.’’
According to LinkedIn, global hiring is around 20% lower than pre-pandemic levels and advanced economies such as the UK, France and Germany are seeing declines of between 20% and 35%.
This is creating an increasingly competitive job market. The average number of applicants applying for a role has doubled since 2022 and around half of people across the world are expecting to need to job hunt in 2026.
So what’s the answer? Or more precisely, how is the workforce responding to a lack of opportunities?
Make your own ends meet
There appears to be a bit of a generational divide in response to the sluggish job market, according to the data.
Among the older generation, there’s a trend for ‘job hugging’.
That’s “employees, holding tight, waiting to see what’s happening. Job transitions – workers moving from one job to another – are at a 10-year low on our platform,” Sue told The Big Question.
“So that tells you that this broader, cautious environment out there is causing workers to sit tight, see where things go, and when roles do come up, it’s very, very hot competition for those roles.”
However, the trend for job hugging isn’t necessarily the case for the entire workforce.
“The younger generation are more inclined to go out and get those jobs. What they’re telling us is that four in every 10 of them would actually like to go and set up their own business, would like to own their own business, be their own founder, get something going.
“So it’s not just the economic circumstances, although that is a factor. There also is this very acute entrepreneurial spirit amongst that generation.”
A younger generation of hustlers
There are more graduates than ever, and when faced with limited job prospects, the data shows they’re willing to hustle hard and take more risks.
Initial data shows that 28% of young people in Europe now juggle multiple jobs, though their aims vary, including for extra income (52%), to start their own business (24%) and to build up their network (22%).
The Big Questionis a series from Euronews Business where we sit down with industry leaders and experts to discuss some of the most important topics on today’s agenda.
Watch the video above to see the full discussion with LinkedIn’s Sue Duke.
Additional sources • Edited by Arno Aubert
