By Stephen Nellis
(Reuters) – LinkedIn, the social media network owned by Microsoft Corp that focuses on business professionals, said on Monday it would cut 716 jobs as part of broader changes that would also result in it phasing out its local jobs app in China.
In a letter to employees, LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky said the move to cut roles in its sales, operations and support teams was aimed at streamlining the company’s operations.
“With the market and customer demand fluctuating more, and to serve emerging and growth markets more effectively, we are expanding the use of vendors,” Roslansky wrote. “We are also removing layers, reducing management roles and broadening responsibilities to make decisions more quickly.”
Roslansky also said in the letter that the changes would result in creating 250 new jobs. A LinkedIn spokesperson said that employees affected by the cuts would be eligible to apply for those roles.
LinkedIn also said it was eliminating the slimmed down jobs application that it offers in China after it decided in 2021 to mostly withdraw from the country, citing a “challenging” environment. The remaining China app, called InCareers, will be phased out by Aug. 9, LinkedIn said.
“Despite our initial progress, InCareer faced fierce competition and a challenging macroeconomic climate, which ultimately led us to the decision of discontinuing the service,” the company told users of the website.
(Reporting by Stephen Nellis in San Francisco; Editing by Jamie Freed)