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LinkedIn to cut 668 jobs after modest Q4 growth

Lungile Msomi
By Lungile Msomi, ITWeb journalist
Johannesburg, 17 Oct 2023
LinkedIn will lay off 668 employees.
LinkedIn will lay off 668 employees.

LinkedIn yesterday announced it would retrench 668 employees across its engineering, product, talent and finance divisions.

The professional social media network disclosed the workforce reduction following the release of its Q4 results, which showed modest revenue growth of 5% year-over-year.

According to Reuters, the layoffs will impact more than 3% of the 20 000 staff in affected departments.

This is the second time this year the company has made employment cuts, with 716 employees worldwide being let go earlier in 2023.

“While we are adapting our organisational structures and streamlining our decision-making, we are continuing to invest in strategic priorities for our future and to ensure we continue to deliver value for our members and customers,” LinkedIn says in a blog post.

Following the hiring spree during the pandemic, the tech industry has since witnessed numerous job cuts, with various tech giants − such as Google, Microsoft, Meta and Amazon − reducing their workforce.

Earlier this year, software giant Microsoft announced it would lay off 10 000 employees, and in January, Amazon declared its intention to retrench 18 000 employees, primarily store workers and the people experience and technology solutions divisions.

US-based enterprise software firm Salesforce also made significant job cuts earlier this year when it trimmed its workforce by 10%. Video-conferencing firm Zoom let go of 15% of its workforce – a total of 1 300 employees.

Additionally, computing company IBM reduced jobs earlier this year, laying off 1.5% (3 900) of its workforce. The company cited its shift towards utilising artificial intelligence to handle routine tasks as one of the reasons behind the move.

Google, Microsoft and Meta also cut their employee count, retrenching 12 000, 10 000 and 11 000 staff members, respectively.

Earlier this year, X owner Elon Musk laid off at least 10% of the social media platform’s workforce.

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