Popular professional networking and career development platform, LinkedIn, has announced plans to lay off five percent of its staff.
The networking platform, owned by technology giant Microsoft, said the planned jobs cut was aimed at focusing personnel on areas where its business is growing.
LinkedIn’s decision, if implemented, will widen the space of staff downsizing in the technology sector this year. The company employs more than 17,500 full-time workers globally.
According to Reuters, the cuts come as revenue at LinkedIn, which sells recruiting tools and subscriptions, rose 12 percent in the just-ended quarter from a year prior, in an acceleration of growth in 2026, according to Microsoft’s securities filings.
According to inside sources who know about the matter, the layoff rationale was not for artificial intelligence to replace jobs at LinkedIn. The specter of AI-fueled disruption has nonetheless hung over software incumbents and workers generally.
Technology companies are increasingly reshaping their operations around AI. Jack Dorsey’s Block in February announced it planned to eliminate nearly half its workforce while Cloudflare penultimate week announced around 20 percent job cut.
Reuters had earlier reported that Meta Platforms was targeting a May 20 layoff. While some AI leaders have warned of job displacement, other industry executives say technology is altering work rather than erasing it. Many Silicon Valley software developers now use AI to generate code for them, for instance.
