LinkedIn to Lay Off 668 Employees in Second Round of Job Cuts
On October 16, LinkedIn, the social media network for professionals, announced that it would be laying off 668 employees across its engineering, talent, and finance teams. This marks the second round of job cuts for the company this year as it grapples with slowing revenue growth.
The layoffs will affect over 3% of LinkedIn’s 20,000-strong staff, adding to the already significant number of job losses in the technology sector amid an uncertain economic outlook. In the first half of the year, the tech sector has already laid off 141,516 employees, compared to about 6,000 during the same period last year.
In a blog post, LinkedIn stated, “While we are adapting our organizational structures and streamlining our decision making, we are continuing to invest in strategic priorities for our future and to ensure we continue to deliver value for our members and customers.”
LinkedIn generates revenue through ad sales and subscriptions to its recruiting and sales platforms. In the fourth quarter of its fiscal 2023 year, the company reported a 5% year-on-year increase in revenue, down from 10% in the previous quarter.
Microsoft, LinkedIn’s parent company, attributes the slowdown in hiring and a decline in advertising spending as headwinds for the platform. Despite these challenges, LinkedIn continues to add new members to its network, which currently has 950 million users.
This latest round of layoffs follows LinkedIn’s decision in May to cut 716 jobs across its sales, operations, and support teams as part of an effort to streamline its operations and improve decision-making processes.
The technology sector as a whole has been dealing with the impact of the global economic slowdown caused by the ongoing pandemic. With uncertainties surrounding the future, many companies are implementing cost-cutting measures to navigate these challenging times.
Reporting by Krystal Hu in New York, additional reporting by Yuvraj Malik and Aditya Soni in Bengaluru. Editing by Arun Koyyur, Emelia Sithole-Matarise, and Aurora Ellis.
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