Social media network LinkedIn has cut an additional 716 roles as part of its latest round of layoffs. According to a letter by LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky, the Microsoft-owned social media network announced the reduction of 716 roles amidst a “rapidly changing landscape” and slowed growth in its revenue. LinkedIn had around 20,000 employees in its workforce prior to the layoffs.
This move comes as no surprise given the adverse macroeconomic conditions that the world is currently facing. Despite the end of the pandemic, the global economy is still struggling to recover. This has resulted in many companies reevaluating their business strategies and cutting back on expenses to maintain profitability. Layoffs.fyi informs that more than 270,000 tech jobs globally have been cut across the globe in the past six months.
“With the market and customer demand fluctuating more, and to serve emerging and growth markets more effectively, we are expanding the use of vendors,” Roslansky wrote in the letter, adding, “I want all of you to know that the entire leadership team and I are dedicated to helping our colleagues during this transition and ensuring that they are treated with the care and respect they deserve.”
A spokesperson for LinkedIn said that these vendors were “external partners” who would take on new and existing work. The impacted employees will be provided with severance pay, continuing health coverage, and career transition services. For employees who work outside the US, it would depend on the requirements of their countries.
The layoffs make LinkedIn the latest name in the tech sector to fire employees amidst the challenging macroeconomic landscape – high-profile such as Apple, Meta, Amazon, Google, Salesforce, and others have already laid off thousands in recent months in a bid to clamp down on costs. This development also comes a few months after LinkedIn began the downsizing of its global recruitment team (that was back in February as the pace of hiring in the tech sector began to slow down).
In its bid to adapt to the shifts in consumer behavior, LinkedIn is now looking to refocus its Global Business Organization (GBO) for the next phase of growth – going forward, its Product & Engineering teams will take the lead for our technology roadmap, while the Business Productivity team will be “sunsetted.” Roslansky added that the reduction of the 700+ roles will open up 250 new jobs for employees “in specific segments” of LinkedIn’s operations, new business, and account management teams from May 15.
And if this is not enough, the letter added that it is pulling the plug on InCareer – its standalone app for helping professionals find and secure jobs in China – amidst the challenging macroeconomic climate and fierce competition. The decision to phase out the local jobs app in China is a significant one, and now, InCareer will be shut down from August 9 – and it comes two years after LinkedIn shut down the Chinese version of its platform in China. It also comes nine years after LinkedIn first entered the Chinese market, and for a long time, remained one of the few major US tech companies operating within the Asian country.
Roslansky maintained that LinkedIn, going forward, will be focussing its strategy in China to help companies and enterprises that are operating in the country to hire, market, and train abroad. He added that this would involve the maintenance of its Talent, Marketing, and Learning businesses while InCareer is phased out.
