Thanks to COVID 19: LinkedIn Starts Downsizing

The business networking site LinkedIn is to cut about 960 jobs of its global workforce as demand for its recruitment products lowers due to the coronavirus pandemic. Chief Executive Officer Ryan Roslansky of LinkedIn announced the move in a Monday email to the employees. A total of 960 jobs will be cut which is about 6% of LinkedIn’s workforce. This downsizing is happening in the Global Sales and Talent Acquisition departments of the company.

Thanks to COVID 19: LinkedIn Starts Downsizing

Since Covid-19 swept across the globe, millions of people become jobless. That, directly and indirectly, forced governments, businesses, and consumers to limit many activities. That’s left fewer companies that are hiring new employees and has weakened demand for the recruiting tools offered by LinkedIn’s Talent Solutions group.

Roslansky said:

“COVID-19 is having a sustained impact on the demand for hiring, both in our LTS business and in our company,”

The text of the email communicated that “LinkedIn is not immune to the effects of the global pandemic. Our Talent Solutions business continues to be impacted as fewer companies, including ours, need to hire at the same volume they did previously. Normally, we would have rolled out our annual plan at the end of June. But as I’ve shared at the Company All Hands, this year we’ve been taking our time to get the FY21 plan right given the changing dynamics around us. And in advance of sharing the entire plan, I want to focus today specifically on the most challenging decision we’ve made to move forward with our strategy. To continue adapting and accelerating the company like we have been, we need to ensure we are focusing our efforts and resources against our most strategic priorities to set up the company for success today—and well into the future.

When we took a hard look at the business, we decided we needed to make some hard calls. After weeks of discussion and deliberation, the executive team and I have made the extremely difficult decision to reduce approximately 960 roles, or about 6 percent of our employee base, across our Global Sales and Talent Acquisition organizations. I’m sharing this news today so that everyone has the complete picture of these changes and why we are making them, and I want you to know these are the only layoffs we are planning.”

LinkedIn is planning to avoid “duplicating costly platforms, systems, and tools internally to save money.