LinkedIn to lay off hundreds of people amid broader restructuring

LinkedIn plans to lay off more than 660 people across its engineering, product, talent and finance teams, it announced Monday — representing more than 3% of the company's global workforce.

Why it matters: LinkedIn has now seen two major rounds of layoffs this year following its cutting in May of 716 jobs and shuttering of its Chinese app InCareer.

• Those cuts were announced alongside a broader restructuring of the firm's Global Business Organization.

The big picture: The job positions are being eliminated as part of broader efforts at the company to optimize around artificial intelligence.

• LinkedIn released a slew of new AI product features earlier this month, including an AI-assisted candidate discovery for recruiters, and AI-powered coaching for LinkedIn's premium subscribers.

Details: "Talent changes are a difficult, but necessary and regular part of managing our business," the company said in a statement.

• "While we are adapting our organizational structures and streamlining our decision making, we are continuing to invest in strategic priorities for our future and to ensure we continue to deliver value for our members and customers."
• "We are committed to providing our full support to all impacted employees during this transition and ensuring that they are treated with care and respect."

Be smart: Founded in 2002, LinkedIn is one of the oldest social networking sites that is still growing today. Until recently, Microsoft's $26.2 billion purchase of LinkedIn in 2016 was its largest acquisition ever.

• LinkedIn's annual revenue surpassed $15 billion for the first time during its last fiscal year (July 1, 2022 — June 30, 2023).
• Its user base has now grown for consistently quarter-over-quarter for the past two years. Today, the firm has 950 million users across more than 200 countries and territories worldwide.