Lightcast's Global data is designed to best enable international comparisons. As with the creation of the Lightcast Occupation Taxonomy to normalize different standards of global occupations, Lightcast created a taxonomy to normalize different standards of global areas in order to provide global data with a consistent and standardized mapping that corresponds with the local governmental definitions. We call this global taxonomy Lightcast Administrative Areas (LAA).

In addition, Lightcast maintains a global standardization system, which categorizes countries into different Sets based on the relative quality and availability of their underlying workforce data. This system helps distinguish where data coverage is more comprehensive versus where it is more limited.

Talent Analyst uses the Country and Metropolitan Area definitions of the Lightcast Administrative Area framework to filter and display localized data. The tables below contains some references to local government definitions and the breadth by country.

Since official 'metropolitan areas' are defined on national or regional levels, we utilize Lightcast Administrative Areas to ensure that we're comparing similar metropolitan areas globally. Metropolitan definitions are based on government defined regions, in most cases coming direct from local authorities. For example, US Metros are based on the Office of Management and Budget's Metropolitan Statistical Areas. See the tables below for additional detail per country.

Lightcast's global data varies by country due to differences in how labor market information is collected, published, and represented online. Factors such as the frequency and depth of government LMI releases, the volume and consistency of online job postings, the availability of professional profile data, and language coverage all influence the completeness and reliability of insights for a given country.

To provide transparency into these differences, Lightcast groups countries into four different LAA Sets. These Sets categorize countries based on the relative quality, depth, and availability of their underlying workforce data, helping users understand where analysis is most comprehensive versus more directional.

While countries in Sets 1-3 are available in the Talent Analyst software, Set 4 countries are only available in Lightcast API and Data Share offerings.

The geographical locations associated with our global dataset are defined by Lightcast Administrative Areas, or LAAs. These are geocodes, or statistical divisions of a country for ease of analysis. They align with local geocode standards in each country that Lightcast maintains data for, for example the NUTS area codes across the European Union, and the FIPS subdivisions of the United States.

Metropolitan definitions are based on government defined regions, in most cases coming direct from local authorities. Lightcast has a threshold in each country to maintain a manageable number of metropolitan areas. Refer to the table above to determine the specific local definitions and the threshold in each country.

No. Global metros do not exhaustively cover a country's area. Smaller regions areas are included in national estimates but not specifically addressed within the "metropolitan" areas of the global tool.

Lightcast collects many thousands of job postings and profiles from around the world. The text of these postings and profiles is analyzed for place names which are singled out and recorded as the raw location associated with that posting. Only one location is saved per posting or profile. This raw location is submitted to Google geocoding to derive the latitude and longitude of the location. All other other location data (such as city, county, state, Lightcast Administrative Areas, etc) is assigned from those values.

Lightcast categories LAA countries into four different set levels based on the relative depth, quality, and availability of workforce data. They help explain why some countries support more comprehensive labor market analysis than others.

Set assignments reflect a combination of factors, including the availability and frequency of government labor market information (LMI), the volume and consistency of job postings, the presence and representativeness of professional profile data, and language coverage and processing capabilities.

LAA Sets are best used as guidance when interpreting results. Countries in lower Sets can still support meaningful analysis, but insights should be viewed as more directional. Comparisons and deeper workforce planning analyses are strongest when countries fall within the same or similar LAA Sets.

Yes. Countries in LAA Sets 1–3 are available in the Talent Analyst software experience. Countries in LAA Set 4 are available through Lightcast APIs and Data Share offerings, where they are commonly used for early-stage or directional analysis.