LinkedIn – a renowned platform for professional networking – is preparing to reduce its workforce by laying off approximately 716 employees, which accounts for around 3.5% of its total staff. The company has additionally decided to shut down its job application services specifically tailored for China.
Various media reports have reported this move as a “weakening global economic outlook and a drop in demand.”
In February this year, LinkedIn had already laid off workers in its recruiting department. The exact number of employees affected by the most recent round of layoffs is not clear.
According to a Reuters report, LinkedIn, which has a workforce of approximately 20,000 employees, has consistently experienced revenue growth every quarter over the past year. The report further stated LinkedIn’s CEO, Ryan Roslansky – who addressed the employees in a letter – explaining that the decision to reduce positions within the sales, operations, and support teams was made to streamline the company’s operations and eliminate unnecessary layers. The goal behind this restructuring is to facilitate faster decision-making processes within the organization.
“With the market and customer demand fluctuating more, and to serve emerging and growth markets more effectively, we are expanding the use of vendors,” the mail read.
LinkedIn has announced that its job search application in China, called InCareers, will be gradually phased out by August 9, 2023. The decision was attributed to a challenging environment in the country.
LinkedIn stated, “Despite our initial progress, InCareer faced fierce competition and a challenging macroeconomic climate, which ultimately led us to the decision of discontinuing the service.”
It also clarified that it will maintain its presence in China to assist businesses operating there with their hiring needs.
LinkedIn has joined the chorus of several major technology companies, including its parent company Microsoft, in implementing workforce reductions. Over the past six months, there have been more than 270,000 job cuts in the global tech industry, as reported by Layoffs.fyi. Meta Platforms, the owner of Facebook, has laid off 21,000 employees, and Alphabet, the parent company of Google, has cut 12,000 jobs.
In January, Microsoft announced its plans to lay off approximately 10,000 employees, which accounted for around 5% of its global workforce. The company aimed to align its cost structure with declining revenue.