LinkedIn is facing more job cuts, with parent company Microsoft announcing that it’s culling around 6,000 roles, or 3% of its global workforce, to “reduce management layers.”
And LinkedIn jobs will be impacted. How many, exactly, Microsoft hasn’t said, but it has noted that LinkedIn will be included in the cuts.
This comes after Microsoft posted a better-than-expected $25.8 billion in the most recent quarter, with LinkedIn seeing a 7% increase in revenue year-over-year.
So it’s not due to performance concerns, as such, but the view is that Microsoft can slim down its management structure, and improve efficiency, as well as the bottom line.
It’s the latest in a series of rationalizations at the company, with Microsoft also cutting several roles in January, which were performance-based changes. LinkedIn also cut 200 jobs late last year, with this latest review set to shrink costs even further, enabling broader investment.
Microsoft, of course, is also spending big on AI, investing billions into OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT. That’s why Microsoft, and LinkedIn, have been so keen to squeeze AI elements into every aspect of their systems, because it’s spent billions to gain that access, and wants to tap into the tech trend of the moment.
As such, a reduction in staff could mean an increase in AI usage internally, and an expansion of its user-facing AI tools.
Maybe. We obviously don’t know the full scope of Microsoft’s ambitions here, and where it’ll be looking to reduce roles. But with LinkedIn scaling back its Chinese operations, that could mean less oversight is required, while again, its enthusiasm for AI could also open up new efficiencies.
(Note: Reports have also indicated that Microsoft is revising the terms of its partnership with OpenAI in order to allow OpenAI to launch an IPO at some stage.)
Either way, there could be impacts on LinkedIn operations moving forward.
