In addition to eliminating 716 positions, LinkedIn will gradually phase off its local job platform in China. LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslanky stated in a letter today that the decision to discontinue the standalone InCareer app in China was made due to “fierce competition and a challenging macroeconomic climate.”
On May 15, Microsoft-owned LinkedIn, which is cutting certain positions, also intends to create roughly 250 new positions in various areas of its operations, as well as new business and accounting management teams.
The newest IT business to announce layoffs is LinkedIn, whose customers range in size from startups to Google and Amazon. Microsoft, the company’s parent, said in January that it would be eliminating 10,000 employees, or about 5% of its whole staff.
In December 2021, a few months after LinkedIn said it would be discontinuing its primary service in China, InCareer was introduced. The decision to close LinkedIn China was then attributed to “a significantly more challenging operating environment and greater compliance requirements.”
According to its website, Maimai, the most popular professional networking site in the nation with over 120 million members, was a rival to InCareer, which was created to help professionals in China network, discover, and apply for employment. Because of Maimai’s benefits, including the option to publish messages anonymously, it is a well-liked platform for employees looking to complain or research their employers.
By August 9, LinkedIn hopes to have completely phased out InCareer and changed its China strategy to support Chinese businesses looking to hire, advertise, and educate employees abroad. This implies that it will still run talent, marketing, and educational operations in China.
Employees laid off under U.S. benefits will get severance compensation, ongoing health coverage, and career transition assistance, while those outside the U.S. will receive benefits in accordance with their respective countries’ labor laws and customs.
The career phasing out and layoffs are part of the adjustments LinkedIn is making to its China and Global Business Organization (GBO) strategies. LinkedIn is retiring its business productivity team as part of this. Additionally, it intends to utilize more suppliers and cut back on management positions in order to “serve emerging and growth markets more effectively.”
As for fiscal year 2024, Roslansky predicted that it would “remain challenging.” As we have done this year, we are adjusting, and we’ll keep operating with the pragmatism needed to successfully run the business and the ambition needed to realize our mission.
LinkedIn reported an 8% year-over-year rise in revenue as part of Microsoft’s most recent quarterly earnings report, which was released in April. Microsoft issued a warning in the report that came before that one, predicting that a slowdown in hiring and advertising expenditures would cause revenue growth to slacken to the mid-single digits in the third quarter.
