Microsoft-owned LinkedIn to lay off 668 more employees

LinkedIn is planning layoffs that would affect about 668 staff in across its engineering, product, talent, and finance divisions amid plans to keep the staff count flat through the second quarter of 2023.

Recall that this is LinkedIn’s second round of layoffs this year. This is even though the company earned more than $15 billion in the fourth-quarter earnings report for 2023. This reduction will however affect about 3% of LinkedIn’s total workforce and comes after the company’s first major layoff earlier this year.

The Great Layoff

LinkedIn is far from being the only company to undergo layoffs this year. In the past few months, Facebook’s parent company, “META” did cut jobs. So did companies like Lyft and Uber Technologies. In this year 2023, countless companies such as Glassdoor, Walmart, Amazon, Citigroup, Twitter, Yahoo, and Meta, just to mention a few, have all eliminated large percentages of their staff.

Where is the saved Money Going?

Experts have suggested that LinkedIn’s decision to downsize its engineering, product, and talent divisions seems to align with a new cost-cutting strategy after the release and large investment in new artificial intelligence products. By optimizing operations through artificial intelligence, the company aims to improve its performance and solidify its position within the human resources industry.

Others suggested that due to the fears of looming recession and higher inflation, especially in the United States, companies are beginning to rethink hiring more staff. This led to a decrease in hiring activities and LinkedIn is beginning to experience a reduction in demand on employers’ side.

What is LinkedIn Saying?

The latest cuts account for 3% of LinkedIn’s team after the company laid off 716 employees in May, according to media outlets, LinkedIn could be quoted in the email sent to staff saying, “While we are adapting our organizational structures and streamlining our decision making, we are committed to providing our full support to all impacted employees during this transition and ensuring that they are treated with care and respect”. LinkedIn stated the company was on track to achieving its FY24 goal by keeping the workforce minimal.

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Cooper Elena

Cooper Elena is a Senior writer at HighJobLink Limited with wide interest in the global economy and how it affects the Africa market. She is responsible for writing stories about the beauty and challenges in the Africa industries.

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