LinkedIn cuts hundreds of jobs, closes Chinese app for good

More than 700 LinkedIn jobs get the chop, as does Chinese site InCareer

Despite “record engagement on the platform,” LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky has announced 716 employees will be laid off, accounting for 4% of the workforce (via Layoffs.fyi).

In a note shared with LinkedIn employees, a greater number of tech workers have been laid off in the first few months of 2023 than in 2022 as a whole, though the precise reason for LinkedIn’s cutbacks remains misted.

Roslansky blamed “shifts in customer behavior and slower revenue growth” in his letter to employees, giving no mention to the rise in AI that has been affecting jobs globally in recent weeks.

LinkedIn cuts

The company’s Global Business Organization (GBO) is the first of two operations to be under review with the recent announcement. The changes will see teams work more closely together, with a reduction in managerial layers in the name of better agility.

However, in light of the new skill sets needed to feed LinkedIn’s growing and seemingly insatiable appetite for artificial intelligence, more than 250 new roles are set to open, knocking a third off the total figure for net redundancies and bringing it down to the 500 mark.

Alongside the worker cuts, LinkedIn also announced its China-local jobs app, InCareer, is set to be axed by early August 2023.

“Despite our initial progress, InCareer faced fierce competition and a challenging macroeconomic climate, which ultimately led us to the decision of discontinuing the service,” the announcement said.

Users have been given until August 9 to download their data, after which it will be deleted. They are also being reminded that other LinkedIn features will remain unaffected.

A plan for the fiscal year ahead is set to be announced in the coming weeks, though the Microsoft-owned company has already indicated that the challenges are expected to continue.

By Craig Hale