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Layoffs Hit Microsoft's LinkedIn

Just days after reports that it has gutted its core metaverse staff, Microsoft is said to be laying off employees within the LinkedIn professional networking site.

According to a paywalled report by The Information which was subsequently confirmed by Microsoft, the LinkedIn layoffs affected the site's recruiting department. However, the cuts didn't appear to be announced by LinkedIn, a site that's devoted to careers. Instead, LinkedIn noted in a post tracking overall layoff trends that it experienced layoffs too, but numbers weren't described.

"LinkedIn has laid off an undisclosed number of staff on its talent acquisition team, according to a company spokesperson," the LinkedIn news article noted, citing The Information as the source of the information.

LinkedIn's news article noted that the U.S. unemployment rate is at 3.4 percent, which is quite low considering the near daily layoffs done by companies. More than 500,000 jobs were added in January, according to U.S. statistics.

Microsoft last month did describe a planned 10,000 jobs cut to take place through March 2024, citing inflationary pressures for the layoffs. The details of Microsoft's cuts weren't described, but It's since been known that Microsoft has made cuts in its mixed reality and metaverse teams, including a budding industrial metaverse team. Additionally, Microsoft-owned GitHub also recently disclosed a 10 percent workforce cut.

LinkedIn had fared well in Microsoft's latest fiscal-year 2023 second-quarter earnings report. "LinkedIn’s revenue increased 10% year-over-year," noted this LinkedIn announcement regarding Microsoft's Q2 results. Microsoft bought LinkedIn in 2016 for about $26.2 billion.

LinkedIn's "Global Talent Trends Report" suggested that hiring is "leveling off after historic highs" worldwide. Workers are expecting an economic downturn with low confidence in improving their financial conditions, according to an October summary of the report. Workers are seeking remote-work prospects, "even as employers scale back on remote job postings." LinkedIn's report gets its findings from a regular online survey that's sent every two weeks to LinkedIn members, with more than 12,000 members responding to each survey "wave."

About the Author

Kurt Mackie is senior news producer for 1105 Media's Converge360 group.

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