LinkedIn, the Microsoft-owned platform focused on helping others find jobs has carried out its second round of layoffs, affecting as many as 716 employees. Additionally, the business-focused social media network has also announced that it would discontinue its local job app in China.
According to reports, the tech firm has decided to downsize since there has been a drop in demand. The current round of layoffs will affect the sales, operations, and support teams as the company streamlines its operations to cut expenses.
In February, LinkedIn announced the first round of layoffs, which mostly affected the recruiting division. The Microsoft-owned job platform employs approximately 20,000 people.
CEO Ryan Roslansky wrote a letter to employees stating that the job cuts were aimed at streamlining the company’s operations and would remove layers to make faster decisions.
“With the market and customer demand fluctuating more, and to serve emerging and growth markets more effectively, we are expanding the use of vendors,” Mr Roslansky wrote.
Notably, the decision to axe jobs was taken despite growing revenue every quarter over the last year. With this, LinkedIn has joined a slew of large technology companies in laying off employees, including its parent company, Microsoft.
LinkedIn to withdraw from China
In 2021 the job-providing platform had mostly withdrawn its operation in China citing a “challenging environment.” Now, the remaining app called InCareers will also be phased out by August 9, 2023. InCareers only covers the Chinese market.
According to a LinkedIn spokesperson, the company would maintain a presence in China to assist companies operating there in hiring and training people from outside the country.
The website reads, “Despite our initial progress, InCareer faced fierce competition and a challenging macroeconomic climate, which ultimately led us to the decision of discontinuing the service.”
In China, LinkedIn has been the sole significant Western social media platform.
When it first began in 2014, the company committed to following the Chinese government’s criteria in order to operate there.
In a letter to LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella at the time, US Senator Rick Scott termed the action “gross appeasement and an act of submission to Communist China.”
In March this year, Meta, the parent company of social media giants Facebook and Instagram, revealed plans to lay off 10,000 employees as part of a major restructuring effort. Meta also announced that it will not fill 5000 vacant positions. This was the second round of layoffs by Meta.
In the first round of layoffs in November 2022, the company laid off 11,000 employees.
In January this year, Amazon began laying off its employees in India. Earlier reports had suggested that Amazon India will cut 1% of its workforce in India.
