“LinkedIn said earlier this month that it would introduce a number of new AI-powered capabilities throughout the company. Today, it is announcing something different that is geared toward the future: The business is firing 668 employees.
According to a trustworthy source, 563 layoffs will be made overall, with teams from engineering, product, talent, and finance being affected”
This follows previous job cuts of 716 employees in May when it also pulled out of China. In total, LinkedIn has now cut about 1,384 jobs amid an economic slowdown.
In total, there have been more than 242,000 people laid off in the technology sector in 2023, according to employment tracker layoffs.fyi
“While we are adapting our organizational 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,” the company said in an unsigned statement today. “We are committed to providing our full support to all impacted employees during this transition and ensuring that they are treated with care and respect.”
- The company says it is streamlining decision making while still investing in strategic priorities.
- One priority is likely hiring more AI talent as it focuses on rolling out new AI tools.
“We continue to use AI to help our members and customers connect to opportunities and tap into the experiences of experts on the platform. Our AI-powered collaborative articles are now the fastest-growing traffic driver to LinkedIn,” it said at the time.
It didn’t specify which strategic priorities but a refocus on hiring more AI talent is likely part of the mix.
This is an unfortunate but not unusual move as tech companies scale back amid macro headwinds. LinkedIn seems committed to advancing its AI capabilities while tightening costs. It will be important to monitor further impacts on services and the workforce as strategic shifts occur.
source: techcrunch
