Microsoft-owned LinkedIn said it would cut 716 jobs as part of broader changes that would also result in it phasing out its local jobs app in China.
LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky, in a letter to employees, said the move to cut roles in its sales, operations and support teams was aimed at streamlining the company’s operations.
Microsoft does not reveal its number of employees and profit of LinkedIn. Microsoft earlier said LinkedIn revenue increased 8 percent to $3,697 billion during its third quarter ended March 31, 2023.
LinkedIn revenue rose to $11.236 billion during its third quarter ended March 31, 2023 from $10.104 billion in the same period previous fiscal.
Microsoft’s research and development expenses increased $2.8 billion or 16 percent driven by investments in cloud engineering and LinkedIn.
Microsoft’s operating expenses rose $5.1 billion or 14 percent driven by investments in cloud engineering, the Nuance and Xandr acquisitions, employee severance expenses, LinkedIn, and commercial sales.
“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. “We are also removing layers, reducing management roles and broadening responsibilities to make decisions more quickly.”
Roslansky also said that the changes would result in creating 250 new jobs. A LinkedIn spokesperson said that employees affected by the cuts would be eligible to apply for those roles.
LinkedIn, the social media network that focuses on business professionals, said it was eliminating the slimmed down jobs application that it offers in China. In 2021, it decided to mostly withdraw from the country. The remaining China app, called InCareers, will be phased out by Aug. 9, LinkedIn said.
“Despite our initial progress, InCareer faced fierce competition and a challenging macroeconomic climate, which ultimately led us to the decision of discontinuing the service,” LinkedIn told users of the website.
