LinkedIn, the social media network for professionals, is laying off 668 employees across its engineering, talent and finance teams, the company announced on Monday. This is the second round of job cuts for LinkedIn this year, following a round of 716 layoffs in May.
The cuts come as LinkedIn faces slowing revenue growth and an uncertain economic outlook. The company’s revenue increased 5% year-on-year in the fourth quarter of its fiscal 2023 year, compared to 10% in the previous quarter. Microsoft, LinkedIn’s parent company, has cited a slowdown in hiring along with a decline in advertising spending as headwinds for LinkedIn.
The layoffs affect more than 3% of LinkedIn’s 20,000-strong staff, and add to the tens of thousands of job losses this year in the technology sector. The tech sector has laid off 141,516 employees in the first half of the year compared with about 6,000 a year ago, according to employment firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
LinkedIn makes money through ad sales and by charging for subscriptions to recruiting and sales professionals who use the network to find suitable job candidates.
In a blog post on Monday, LinkedIn said that the cuts are part of an effort to “adapt our organizational structures and streamline our decision making.” The company also said that it is continuing to invest in strategic priorities for its future and to ensure that it continues to deliver value for its members and customers.
The layoffs are likely to be a blow to morale at LinkedIn, and could also have a negative impact on the company’s ability to innovate and grow. It remains to be seen how the layoffs will impact LinkedIn’s long-term success.
