Microsoft’s LinkedIn has announced that it will lay off 668 employees across its engineering, talent, and finance teams in the second round of job cuts this year. The cuts affect more than 3% of LinkedIn’s staff of more than 20,000. The company said it will remain committed to giving full support to impacted employees during the transition.
Reasons for the Layoffs
Microsoft has cited a slowdown in hiring along with a decline in advertising spending as headwinds for LinkedIn, although it continues to add new members to its community of 950 million. LinkedIn makes money through advertisement sales and by charging for subscriptions to recruiting and sales professionals who use the network to find suitable job candidates. In the fourth quarter of its fiscal 2023 year, LinkedIn’s revenue increased 5% year-on-year, compared to 10% in the previous quarter.
LinkedIn’s Response
“Talent changes are a difficult, but necessary and regular part of managing our business,” LinkedIn said in a statement. “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,” the company added. LinkedIn keeps growing and said its annual revenue surpassed $15 billion for the first time in the fiscal year that ended in June.
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Impact on the Tech Industry
According to employment firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, the tech sector has laid off 141,516 staff in the first half of the year. This is a huge increase compared with about 6,000 people a year ago. Layoffs in the tech industry this year have impacted nearly every major firm including Google, Amazon, Yahoo, Meta, and Zoom.
LinkedIn is positioned as an Internet professional social networking site and makes money by selling ads. It also charges fees to recruiting and sales personnel who use the network to find suitable candidates. Back in May, the company conducted a round of layoffs. At the time, it said it decided to cut 716 positions across its sales, operations and support teams. The reason for the layoff is to streamline its operations and eliminate layers in order to make decisions faster.
Final Words
Microsoft’s LinkedIn has announced that it will lay off 668 staff across its engineering, talent, and finance teams. This is the second round of job cuts this year. The reasons for the layoffs include a slowdown in hiring and a decline in advertising spending. LinkedIn has responded by stating that talent changes are a necessary part of managing their business. It said it will continue to invest in strategic priorities for its future. The layoffs are part of a larger trend in the tech industry. There has been a big increase in job cuts this year.
