LinkedIn lays off 716 workers and shut down its China jobs app

LinkedIn, the professional social media platform Microsoft acquired in 2016 for $26.2 billion, announced on Monday that it is cutting 716 jobs due to decreased demand. The social giant also announced it is shutting down its China-focused job application.

The shutdown of its China application comes two years after Microsoft pulled the plug on LinkedIn in China nearly seven years after its launch. Blaming the shutdown on a “challenging operating environment and greater compliance requirements,” Microsoft said at the time it would replace it with a stripped-down version of the platform that would focus only on jobs.

In a message addressed to the company’s employees, LinkedIn’s CEO Ryan Roslansky explained that the decision to reduce headcount in sales, operations, and support teams was intended to simplify the company’s operations and facilitate faster decision-making.

Despite having a workforce of 20,000, LinkedIn managed to increase its revenue every quarter over the past year. However, the company is following in the footsteps of other major tech firms, including its parent company, in cutting jobs due to a weaker global economic outlook.

LinkedIn generates revenue from advertising and by offering subscriptions to sales and recruitment professionals who utilize the platform to discover potential clients.

“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 for LinkedIn said the vendors were “external partners” who would take on new and existing work.

LinkedIn is one of the many tech companies that have implemented cost-cutting measures in recent months as concerns grow over the global economic slowdown, the possibility of a looming recession, and the impact of generative AI. Yesterday, it was reported that Intel was planning a fresh round of layoffs following the biggest quarterly loss in company history.

Last week, Shopify announced it was laying off more than 2,000 employees, or 20% of its workforce. Video game developer Unity Software also announced it was laying off 600 employees, about 8% of its workforce, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Lyft also laid off 1,072 workers or 26% of its workforce, just a month after the founders stepped down.

Tech giants like Meta, Google’s Alphabet, and Nvidia have all taken measures to rein in spending. Other companies like Coinbase, Shopify, Netflix, and Twilio have also announced layoffs. In March, Facebook-parent company Meta announced it would cut 10,000 jobs, just four months after it let go of 11,000 employees, making the social giant the first Big Tech company to announce a second round of mass layoffs.

The global economic downturn that started in the second quarter of 2022 is beginning to have a major impact on tech companies. In the past six months, more than 270,000 tech jobs globally have been cut, according to Layoffs.FYI, a site that has been tracking all tech layoffs using data compiled from public reports.