Microsoft Corp.'s business-focused social media platform LinkedIn announced on Monday that it would shut down its China-focused job application and lay off 716 employees as demand dips.
LinkedIn, which has 20,000 employees, has seen quarterly revenue growth over the past year. However, in light of the deteriorating global economic outlook, LinkedIn has joined other major technology companies, including its parent, in laying off employees.
Layoffs.fyi, which has been keeping track of the consequences, claims that more than 270,000 tech jobs have been eliminated around the world in the past six months.
LinkedIn makes money by selling ads and charging recruiting and sales professionals who use the network to find potential customers for their subscriptions.
Ryan Roslansky, CEO of LinkedIn, stated in a letter to employees that the decision to reduce roles in the company's sales, operations, and support teams was made with the intention of streamlining the operations of the business and would help make decisions more quickly.
"With the market and client request fluctuating more, and to serve arising and development showcases all the more successfully, we are extending the utilization of merchants," Roslansky composed.
Roslansky additionally said in the letter that the progressions would bring about making 250 new positions. A LinkedIn representative said that workers impacted by the slices would be qualified to apply for those jobs.
After deciding in 2021 to mostly withdraw from China due to a "challenging" environment, LinkedIn also announced that it would be discontinuing the streamlined jobs app it offers there. The leftover China application, called InCareers, will be gradually gotten rid of by Aug. 9, LinkedIn said.
The company informed website visitors that "despite our initial progress, InCareer faced fierce competition and a challenging macroeconomic climate, which ultimately led us to the decision of discontinuing the service."
According to a company spokesperson, LinkedIn will continue to have a presence in China in order to assist Chinese businesses in hiring and training employees from outside the country.
In the tech area, huge organizations have represented the majority of late cutbacks, including 27,000 at Amazon.com Inc , the most in its set of experiences.
Facebook proprietor Meta Stages Inc shed 21,000, and Google parent Letter set Inc has laid off 12,000.
According to Layoffs.fyi, 5,000 technology jobs had been eliminated in May alone prior to LinkedIn's announcement.
In recent months, Microsoft, which acquired LinkedIn for approximately $26 billion in 2016, has announced approximately 10,000 layoffs and incurred a $1.2 billion charge in connection with those layoffs.