LinkedIn makes money through ad sales
LinkedIn, the Microsoft Corp-owned social media network that focuses on business professionals, said on Monday it would cut 716 jobs as an exemption from demand, while also shuttering its China-focused job application .
LinkedIn, which has 20,000 employees, has grown revenue each quarter over the past year, but it has joined other major technology companies, including its parent, in laying off staff amid a weak global economic outlook.
Over the past six months, more than 270,000 tech jobs have been cut globally, according to layoff tracker Layoffs.fyi.
LinkedIn makes money through advertising sales and by charging membership fees for recruiting and sales professionals who use the network to find prospects.
In a letter to employees, LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky said the cuts to roles in its sales, operations and support teams were aimed at streamlining the company’s operations and would remove layers to help make quicker decisions.
“With greater volatility in market and customer demand, and to more effectively serve emerging and growth markets, we are expanding the use of vendors,” Roslansky wrote.
Roslansky also said in the letter that 250 new jobs would be created as a result of the changes. A LinkedIn spokeswoman said employees affected by the cuts would be eligible to apply for those roles.
LinkedIn also said it is eliminating the slimmed down Jobs app it offered in China in 2021 after deciding to withdraw from most of the country, citing a “challenging” environment. LinkedIn said the remaining Chinese app, called Incuriers, would be phased out by August 9.
“Despite our initial progress, InCareer faced fierce competition and a challenging macroeconomic environment, which ultimately led us to make the decision to discontinue service,” the company told website users.
A company spokesperson said LinkedIn will maintain a presence in China to help companies operating there to hire and train employees from outside the country.
In the tech sector, large companies have recently laid off massive numbers, including 27,000 at Amazon.com Inc., the most in its history.
Facebook owner Meta Platforms Inc has laid off 21,000 and Google parent Alphabet Inc has laid off 12,000. According to Layoffs.fyi, 5,000 technology jobs were eliminated in May alone, prior to LinkedIn’s announcement. Microsoft, which bought LinkedIn for about $26 billion in 2016, has announced about 10,000 job cuts in recent months and has taken a $1.2 billion charge related to the layoffs.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)