LinkedIn, the professional networking platform owned by Microsoft, announced on Monday that it will be laying off 668 employees across its engineering, product, talent, and finance teams. This is the second round of layoffs for LinkedIn this year, after the company cut 716 jobs in May.
“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,” LinkedIn said in a blog on Monday.
The layoffs come at a time when the tech industry as a whole is facing some challenges. Many other tech giants, including Meta, Twitter, and Netflix, have also announced layoffs in recent months. This suggests that the tech industry is slowing down and that companies are looking to cut costs.
The tech sector has laid off 141,516 employees in the first half of the year compared with about 6,000 people a year ago, according to employment firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
LinkedIn’s layoffs are likely due to a combination of factors, including a slowdown in revenue growth, rising costs, and a competitive landscape. The company is also facing increasing competition from other social media platforms, such as TikTok.
LinkedIn, known for generating revenue through advertising and subscriptions for recruiting and sales professionals, is also increasingly focusing on AI integration. The platform recently introduced an AI-assisted candidate discovery feature, and its AI-powered collaborative articles have become the fastest-growing traffic driver on the site.
The LinkedIn layoffs are a sign of the times in the tech industry. Despite the layoffs, LinkedIn remains a strong company with a bright future. The company recently announced in its most recent earnings report that it surpassed $15 billion in revenue for the first time during this fiscal year, and that its membership growth “accelerated” for the eighth quarter in a row.
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The company has a large and engaged user base, and it is continuing to invest in new features and products. LinkedIn is also focused on artificial intelligence, which it believes has the potential to revolutionize the way that people find jobs and connect with each other.