LinkedIn Cuts Jobs in Engineering, Product and Marketing

LinkedIn is laying off workers across engineering, product and marketing, Bloomberg reported Wednesday. CEO Daniel Shapero disclosed the cuts in an internal memo cited by Bloomberg. The professional networking platform, owned by Microsoft, did not say how many of its 17,500 employees would be affected or where they are based.

A report from Reuters put the cuts at 5% of the workforce. “As part of our regular business planning, we’ve implemented organizational changes to best position ourselves for future success,” a company spokesperson told GeekWire via email.

Shapero took the helm at LinkedIn last month after serving as chief operating officer since 2021. He succeeded Ryan Roslansky, who was elevated to executive vice president overseeing both LinkedIn and Microsoft Office.

The cuts come despite strong financial performance. In January, LinkedIn reported crossing $5 billion in quarterly revenue for the first time, and last month said its annual revenue grew 12% year-over-year. Microsoft acquired the company a decade ago for $26.2 billion.

The layoffs are the latest in a string of workforce reductions at Microsoft. The tech giant cut 6,000 employees, roughly 3% of its global workforce, about a year ago, then trimmed an additional 9,000 jobs last July. It recently offered voluntary retirement to thousands of employees for the first time in its 51-year history, targeting workers whose age plus years of service total 70 or more, and has flattened management layers while overhauling its compensation structure.

Microsoft has repeatedly denied a direct link between the cuts and its growing use of artificial intelligence to automate coding tasks. But as AI efficiencies expand and the company invests billions in data centers, it continues trimming its payrolls.