LinkedIn Planning To Lay Off 5% of Staff In Latest Tech-Sector Cuts (reuters.com)
- Reference: 0183208645
- News link: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/26/05/13/1615245/linkedin-planning-to-lay-off-5-of-staff-in-latest-tech-sector-cuts
- Source link: https://www.reuters.com/business/world-at-work/linkedin-is-planning-lay-off-5-staff-latest-tech-sector-cuts-source-says-2026-05-13/
> LinkedIn planned to inform staff of layoffs on Wednesday, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters, in a widening of technology sector cuts this year. The Microsoft-owned social network [1]plans to cut about 5% of its headcount as it reorganizes teams and focuses personnel on areas where its business is growing [...].
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> LinkedIn employs more than 17,500 full-time workers globally, its website says. Reuters was unable to determine the teams affected. The cuts come as revenue at LinkedIn, which sells recruiting tools and subscriptions, rose 12% in the just-ended quarter from a year prior, in an acceleration of growth in 2026, according to Microsoft's securities filings. The layoff rationale was not for artificial intelligence to replace jobs at LinkedIn, one of the people told Reuters. The specter of AI-fueled disruption has nonetheless hung over software incumbents and workers generally.
[1] https://www.reuters.com/business/world-at-work/linkedin-is-planning-lay-off-5-staff-latest-tech-sector-cuts-source-says-2026-05-13/
They did NOT blame AI? (Score:3)
Slap me!
(I'm getting a pay-wall, so can't verify.)
Re: (Score:3)
No roasting, just a honest suggestion to pay more attention to your mental health. The entirety of your comments are tirades about woke this and DEI that. This is a technology site, I hope the disconnect is evident.
Honest Rationale (Score:3)
This article is tipping toeing around with the AI buzzword. But with LinkedIn it's a lot harder to not be honest on the likely reasoning being just approaching plain ole recession. With so much of its revenue being dependent on a healthy job market, it's a lot harder to make money off other businesses who are advertising, hiring, or training when they are cinching their belts.
Re: (Score:3)
I think you have that inverted. When the job market is shitty, that's when more people are looking for work. People that are serious about looking for work are more likely to spend on professional services that accelerate them finding their next job.
When I was briefly unemployed for a couple months, I subscribed to LinkedIn to get the useful bells and whistles for job searching. And when I accepted a position, I immediately cancelled the subscription.
Higher unemployment means better revenue for LinkedIn.
Re: (Score:2)
They are taking money on the postings and on the subscriptions of the corporate headhunters. So while user subscriptions may be up, that's just the most user visible side of their income. Again besides ads and training.
Where ya gonna go? (Score:4, Interesting)
The sad irony is that most of the staff being laid off will be using the services of the company that just axed them to try to land a new job.
Re: Where ya gonna go? (Score:2)
I believe the tech bros call it "dogfooding"
Company Cutting the Dead Wood (Score:4, Insightful)
17,500 employees at LinkedIn... omg, what in the world do they need seventeen and a half thousand people to do, it's a silly engagement site that posts alleged job listings are those tens of thousands of folks spending all day every day scrutinizing the job listings for accuracy and credibility?
Re: (Score:2)
1 person maintains the code.
7,499 sell ads.
10,000 send emails asking you to 'upgrade to premium.'
Re: (Score:2)
Sounds like those 10,000 can be replaced by a crontab.
Why are they only laying off 5%?
Re: (Score:2)
Do you even microservices bro? Netflix is just a silly site that streams movies. Expedia and booking.com are silly sites that sell travel related .. tickets. LinkedIn may not seem anywhere near as complex as those but you better believe it's got a lot of complexity to manage. IDK they could all be in sales for all I know. My company has 20,000 employees or so and I know that engineering teams make up about 10% of that total.
Re: (Score:2)
actually, I don't gotta believe
Re: (Score:2)
> My company has 20,000 employees or so and I know that engineering teams make up about 10% of that total.
Let me guess, 10,000 are in HR, 2,000 in Legal, 3,000 in Marketing, and 3,000 in Sales
95% to go (Score:1)
^
Fewer and fewer (Score:2)
The usual 5% or 10% are becoming fewer and fewer people, due to the large number who have already been laid off. Soon, 5% will mean like, 2 people.
So ... (Score:2)
In other words, LinkedIn performed 5% worse than expected because they ruined the site
Re: (Score:2)
idk
revenue at LinkedIn, which sells recruiting tools and subscriptions, rose 12% in the just-ended quarter
Re: (Score:2)
And yet they're still showing people the door.
Revenue != profit.