In a professional discipline where more than half of new recruits come from beyond Whitehall, having access to 44 million potential candidates is key, according to departmental representative Ian Murray

A LinkedIn subscription cost of more than £13,000 a month is an important investment to provide the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology with access to potential candidates in a field where more than half of roles are given to applicants from outside government, a minister has claimed.

DSIT is one of a number of Whitehall organisations to make use of paid services offered by the career networking website – including some departments that have signed six- or even seven-figure deals to work directly with LinkedIn on recruitment efforts.

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The tech department spends a comparatively modest £159,000 on subscription services offered via the platform, according to digital government minister Ian Murray. A further £1.22m is spent by DSIT on “other subscriptions” – that, in answer to a written parliamentary question from independent MP Rupert Lowe, Murray did not specify.

Elsewhere in his response, the minister said that “DSIT uses its LinkedIn subscription to support with recruitment efforts including role advertisement and usage of LinkedIn Insights which supports with strategic workforce planning”.

“With more than 44 million registered users in the UK as of January 2025, LinkedIn offers DSIT the ability to promote live vacancies to as many potential external candidates as possible,” the minister added. “This is particularly important for DSIT’s critical digital and data vacancies, whereby it is estimated that more than half of our applicants come from outside of the civil service market.”