LinkedIn Announces Second Round of Layoffs
LinkedIn, the social network for professionals owned by Microsoft, announced on Monday that it would eliminate 668 jobs across its engineering, product, talent and finance teams, as part of a restructuring effort to streamline its operations and improve its efficiency.
The layoffs, which affect more than 3% of LinkedIn’s 20,000 employees, come amid slowing revenue growth for the company, which has faced challenges from the pandemic and increased competition from other platforms. LinkedIn said in a blog post that it was continuing to invest in strategic priorities for its future and to deliver value for its members and customers.
The cuts are the second round of layoffs for LinkedIn this year, following the decision in May to reduce its workforce by 716 employees, mostly in sales, operations and support roles. The company also exited China earlier this year, citing a “challenging operating environment” and shifting consumer preferences.
According to a memo sent to current employees by LinkedIn’s senior vice president of engineering Mohak Shroff and chief product officer Tomer Cohen, which was obtained by The Register, the majority of the affected roles are in the research and development department, with 388 engineers losing their jobs. The memo said that the changes were necessary to “improve agility and accountability, establish unambiguous ownership, and drive improved efficiency and transparency through reduced layering.”
LinkedIn is not the only tech company that has resorted to layoffs this year, as the sector has faced an uncertain economic outlook due to the pandemic and other factors. According to employment firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, the tech sector has laid off 141,516 employees in the first half of the year, compared with about 6,000 people a year ago.
LinkedIn, which has more than 950 million members worldwide, makes money through advertising sales and subscriptions to its premium services for recruiters and sales professionals. In the fourth quarter of its fiscal 2023 year, which ended on June 30, LinkedIn’s revenue increased by 5% year-on-year, compared with 10% in the previous quarter. Microsoft has cited a slowdown in hiring along with a decline in advertising spending as headwinds for LinkedIn.
