LinkedIn is set to cut 716 jobs and close down its China-focused job application amid a weakening global economic outlook and a drop in demand. LinkedIn employs around 20,000 employees, which translates the fresh job cuts to around 3.5%.
Microsoft-owned LinkedIn generates income through ad sales and subscriptions to recruiting and sales professionals using the network to find potential employees.
LinkedIn 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.
In the past six months, over 2.7 lakh tech jobs worldwide have been cut, with large companies such as Amazon, Facebook, and Google parent company Alphabet accounting for the bulk of the layoffs.
Microsoft, which purchased LinkedIn for $26 billion in 2016, has announced around 10,000 job cuts in recent months, costing $1.2 billion. The tech giant laid off around 10,000 employees earlier this year.
Apart from Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, and Google have also fired employees. Meta has fired 21,000 employees since late last year. Google announced layoffs of 12,000 employees in January 2023. Amazon has also announced two rounds of layoffs so far, leading to the firing of 27,000 employees.
Chipmaker Intel will also be cutting its workforce to reduce costs. The company did not disclose the exact number of jobs affected. However, it revealed that the layoffs will take place across the board.
According to reports, at least 82 startups in India have laid off over 23,000 employees, with the numbers expected to rise. Among these layoffs, 19 ed-tech startups, including four unicorns, have alone sacked more than 8,460 employees to date, according to a report by Inc42.
Startups such as BYJU'S, Ola, OYO, Meesho, MPL, LivSpace, Innovaccer, Udaan, Unacademy, and Vedantu are among the ones leading the layoff tally. Around 5,868 employees were let go by 41 startups in the first four months of 2023.
Amid fear of layoffs, Apple CEO Tim Cook has said that layoffs at Apple will be made only as a 'last resort.' In a media interview, Cook said, “I view that as a last resort and, so, mass layoffs is not something that we’re talking about at this moment."