LinkedIn is laying off almost 700 employees worldwide
LinkedIn, Microsoft’s business social networking platform, announced Monday that the company is laying off 668 employees, representing more than 3% of its workforce, as part of its alleged organizational restructuring efforts. The decision marks the second round of mass layoffs at LinkedIn This year there will be an impact on the roles of employees in the development, product, talent and finance teams.
“Talent transition is a difficult but necessary and regular part of running our company,” the company said in a statement opinion. “As we adjust our organizational structures and streamline our decision-making, we continue to invest in strategic priorities for our future and ensure we continue to deliver value to our members and customers.”
The layoffs affect nearly 20,000 employees across LinkedIn’s 36 offices in the U.S. and abroad. This came as the company announced that it had generated revenue of over $15 billion in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2023. LinkedIn reportedly experienced 5% year-over-year growth, or 7% growth at constant exchange rates, the company said its statistics page.
“As we continue to execute on our FY24 plan, we must also evolve the way we work and our priorities so that we can execute on the key initiatives we have identified that will have a major impact on achieving our business goals,” LinkedIn executives Mohak said Shroff and Tomer Cohen wrote in the memo to staff regarding the October layoffs: Business Insider reported.
“This means we must adapt our organizational structures to improve agility and accountability, establish clear accountability, and achieve greater efficiency and transparency through fewer shifts,” the memo continues.
Microsoft has officially acquired a 49% stake in OpenAI for $13 billion in April and released a number of AI features on LinkedIn this year, including one AI-powered coaching feature for premium subscribers and a AI-powered candidate recognition feature for recruiters.
When asked whether LinkedIn laid off nearly 700 employees to make room for AI, a LinkedIn spokesperson didn’t answer directly, but told Gizmodo: “This restructuring is intended to support LinkedIn’s future broadly.”
LinkedIn laid off 716 employees of its China-based job app InCareer in May this year, saying it needed to “manage expenses.” The layoffs affected about 3.5% of the company’s workforce and came despite revenue growth of 8% in the third quarter of fiscal 2023.
