LinkedIn has become the next tech company to go for job cuts as the social media network said that it would cut 716 jobs as demand wavers, and will also be shutting down its China-focused job application, said a Reuters report citing an email by LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky to its employees. In the letter to LinkedIn employees, Ryan Roslansky said that the move was aimed at streamlining the company’s operations. Roslansky wrote, “As we guide LinkedIn through this rapidly changing landscape, we are making changes to our Global Business Organization (GBO) and our China strategy that will result in a reduction of roles for 716 employees.”
LinkedIn has 20,000 employees currently. The job cuts will impact employees in the sales, operations and support teams. “With the market and customer demand fluctuating more, and to serve emerging and growth markets more effectively, we are expanding the use of vendors,” Roslansky wrote. A spokesperson from the platform said that the vendors were ‘external partners’ who would take on new and existing work, Reuters reported.
In the letter, the CEO also maintained that the changed would also create 250 new jobs at LinkedIn. The employees affected by the layoff would be eligible to apply for these newly created job roles. The social media platform makes money through ad sales and also through subscription charges to recruiting and sales professionals who use the network to find prospects.
In terms of China business, LinkedIn said that it is eliminating the jobs app in the country and that it will phase out by August 9th. LinkedIn had, in 2021, decided to mostly withdraw from China citing ‘challenging’ environment. However, LinkedIn will still have a presence in the country operating there to hire and train employees outside the country.
In the last six months, companies including Amazon, Microsoft, and Alphabet have announced layoffs and according to Layoffs.fyi, more than 270,000 tech jobs globally have been cut.