In the second round of job cutbacks this year for the professional social media network, Microsoft's (MSFT.O) LinkedIn announced on Monday that it would lay off 668 people from its engineering, talent, and finance departments, reported Reuters. This decision was made in response to sluggish revenue growth.
The job losses, which affect more than 3% of the 20,000-person workforce, are in addition to the tens of thousands of jobs lost in the IT sector this year due to an unreliable forecast for the economy.
"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," LinkedIn said in a blog on Monday.
According to employment firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, the tech sector has let go of 141,516 workers in the first half of the year compared to approximately 6,000 a year ago.
LinkedIn generates revenue by selling ads charging sales and recruiting professionals who use the network to discover qualified job applicants a subscription fee.
LinkedIn's revenue climbed 5% year over year in the fourth quarter of its fiscal 2023 year as opposed to 10% in the previous quarter.
Despite continuing to recruit new members to its 950 million-strong group, LinkedIn has been facing headwinds from Microsoft, including a halt in hiring and a decrease in advertising spending.
In order to streamline its processes and remove layers to facilitate quicker decision-making, LinkedIn decided in May to eliminate 716 employees across its sales, operations, and support departments.
