LinkedIn lays off 668 employees in second cut this year

By Krystal Hu and Yuvraj Malik

(Reuters) -Microsoft’s LinkedIn said on Monday it would lay off 668 employees across its engineering, talent and finance teams in the second round of job cuts this year for the social media network for professionals amid slowing revenue growth.

The cuts, which affect more than 3% of the 20,000-strong staff, add to the tens of thousands of job losses this year in the technology sector in the face of an uncertain economic outlook.

“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,” LinkedIn said in a blog on Monday.

The tech sector has laid off 141,516 employees in the first half of the year compared with about 6,000 a year ago, according to employment firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

LinkedIn makes money through ad sales and by charging for subscriptions to recruiting and sales professionals who use the network to find suitable job candidates.

In the fourth quarter of its fiscal 2023 year, LinkedIn’s revenue increased 5% year-on-year, compared to 10% in the previous quarter.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:) has cited a slowdown in hiring along with a decline in advertising spending as headwinds for LinkedIn, although it continues to add new members to its community of 950 million.

LinkedIn in May decided to cut 716 jobs across sales, operations and support teams to streamline its operations and remove layers to help make quicker decisions.