The layoffs are seen as part of Microsoft's shift towards AI, which has also impacted LinkedIn, which earlier this year launched a suite of generative AI tools for sales, marketing, and recruiting. The trend reflects the broader shift in the tech industry towards AI, with other tech companies also experiencing mass layoffs.
Key takeaways:
- LinkedIn is undergoing its second round of layoffs this year, with 668 positions being cut from its engineering, product, talent, and finance teams. This follows the dismissal of 716 employees in May.
- The layoffs come despite LinkedIn posting 5 percent revenue growth compared to the same time last year, reaching $15 billion for the first time, and membership growing for eight consecutive quarters, reaching 950 million users.
- Microsoft, LinkedIn's parent company, has been heavily investing in AI, including the startup OpenAI, and has been reworking some of its most iconic products, such as Bing, around chatbot language models.
- The layoffs reflect broader trends in the tech industry, with other companies such as Stack Overflow also laying off workers as programmers shift towards AI coding tools like the Microsoft-owned Github Copilot.